The Christian in complete armour, or, A treatise of the saints' war against the devil, wherein a discovery is made of that grand enemy of God and His people, in his policies, power, seat of his empire, wickedness, and chief design he hath against the saints ...

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OR, A

TREATISE

OP THE

SAINTS' WAR AGAINST THE DEVIL.

WHEBEIN

A DISCOVERY IS MADE OF THAT GRAND ENEMY OF GOD AND
HIS PEOPLE, IN HIS POLICIES, POWER, SEAT OF HIS EMPIRE,
WICKEDNESS, AND CHIEF DESIGN HE HATH AGAINST THE
SAINTS.

A MAGAZINE OPENED,

From whence the Christian is furnished with Spiritual Arms for
the Battle, helped on with his Armour, and taught the Use of his
Weapons ; together with the happy Issue of the whole War,

By WILLIAM GURNALL, M.A.

Fonnerly Pastor of the Church of Christ at Lavenham, in Suffolk.
THE EIGHTH EDITION, CAREFULLY CORRECTED.

IN THREE VOLUMES, %

VOL. I.

Uottlrott :

PRINTED FOR RICHARD BAYNES, 25, IVY LANE,
PATERNOSTER ROW.

1821.

♦ ♦.

u.. > ■ ■•■.->-

DEDICATION TO PART FIRST,

f.; • I r

i^r/

TO MY DEARLY BELOVED FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS,

• '-</.•■■ ■ . . . ■

THE INHABITANTS OF LAVENHAM.

MY DEAR FRIENDS,

Solomon salth, The desire of a man is his kindness,
and a poor man is better than a liar, Prov. xix. 22. If
you be of his mind, I dare promise these Notes (which
I here devote to your service) a kind acceptance at
your hands. You will find me to be the poor man, by
the mite I present you with ; but the hearty deiSire of
your eternal happiness, from which it comes, will, I
hope, clear me from being the liar. I never could be
so serviceable to you, as many ministers are to their
people, having been with you in much weakness ; and
still it is the good pleasure of God, I should be staked
down to a short tether of strength and abilities j I
have reason therefore (that I may, though not recom-
pense that want, yet express my deep sense thereof)
to crowd the more love into the little I can do for you.
And truly my heart is enlarged to you, and to God
for you. If any thing makes me loth to be gone into
another world, (which my dropping house bids me
above many prepare for), it is not the least, to think
I shall leave no more of you walking in the way to
eternal life, and you who are on your way thither, in
no closer gospel-order for your mutual help and com-

A fort

11

fort in your journey ; yea, while I am among you,
little do you think how much of your poor minister's
life lies at your mercy. If I should measure my life
by the joy of it, (as indeed who doth not?) then in
some uprightness I can say, with Paul, I live as I see
any of you stand fast in the Lord, and die as I see
others stand fast in their sins, not to be moved with
all the entreaties of the Gospel which have wooed you.
And why, itiy dear friends, should not the life of your
souls be more precious in your own sight than mine ?
But I forbear : I would not willingly be thought, as
some husbands are, to be kinder to you abroad before
strangers, than I am at home.

What I present you with in this Treatise, is a dish
from your own table, and so, I hope, will go down the
better. You cannot despise it (though the fare be
mean), except you will blame yourselves, who chose
the cook. I cannot be earnest with others, to bestow
so much time as to read over these plain sermons, lest
it should be to their loss; it were but to call them
from gathering sheaves in the more fruitful labours of
others, to glean a few ears, and those but thin also, in
mine ; yet with you, my people, I may be a little bold.
Physicians say, the mother's milk, though not so
weighty as another's, if no noxious humour be tasted
in it, because natural, is more proper for the child
than a stranger's. And, I think, it would not be an
error, if I should say it held in the milk which the mi-
nister gives to his flock. A people conscientiously
lying at the breasts of their own minister (if the milk
he gives be wholesome), may expect the blessing of
Goa for their nourishment, though it has not so much
lusciousness to please the curious taste as some others.
Well, whatever these sermons were, some of those few

spirits

spirits which you found in hearing, will be missing in
the reading of* them. It is as easy to paint fire with
the heat, »s with pen and ink to commit that to paper,
which occurs in preaching. There is as much differ*
ence between a sermon in the pulpit, and printed in a
book, as between milk in the warm breast, and in a
sucking bottle ; yet what it loseth in the lively tastei
is recompensed by the convenience of it. The book
taay be at hand when the preacher cannot ; and truly,
that is the chief end of printing, that as the bottle and
3po6n is used when the mother is sick or out of the
way, so the book, to quiet the Christian and stay his
stomach in the absence of the Ordinance. He tb^t
readeth sermons and good books at home, to save hi?
pains of going to hear, is a thief to his soul in a reli-
gious habit : he consults for his ease, but not for hji^
profit J he eats cold meat when he may have hot; h^
hazarxis the losing the benefit of both by contemning
of one. If the spouse could have had her beloved at
home; she needed not to have coursed the streets and
waited on the public. O what need we offer sacrilege
for sacrifice, rob God of one duty to pay him another !
He hath laid our work in better order; one wheel
would not interfere with another, if wci did more re-
gularly.! A chief part of David's arithmetic of num-
bering our days, lies in that which we call division, as
to cast the account of this our short life; ao as to di-
vide the little whole sum into the several portions of
time due for the performing of every duty in. An in-
strument is not in tune, except it have all the strings ;
and those will not make good music, if the musician
hath not wisdom to cau^e every string to speak in its
due time ; the Christian is not in tune, except he
takes in all the duties of his place and calling ; neither

A 2 will

IV

will the performance of them be harmonious in God*a;
ear, if every one be not done in its proper season. O
my friends, labour not only to do the duty of your
place, but that duty in its own place also. Hear when
you should hear. Know your time for closet, and
time for shop ; and when your retiring hour comes, si
few minutes now and then spent in taking a repetition
of what formerly you heard, shall not (I hope) another
day be reckoned with your lost time. The subject of
the Treatise is solemn — A war between the Saint and
Satan, and that so bloody a one, that the cruellest
which ever was fought by men, will be found but sport
and child's play to this. Alas, what is the killing of bo-
dies to destroying of souls ? *Tis a sad meditation in-
deed, to think how many thousands have been sent to
the grave in a few late years among us by the sword of
man ; but far more astonishing to consider how many
of those may be sent to hell by the sword of God's
wrath. 'Tis a spiritual war you shall read of, and that
not a history of what was fought many ages past, and
is now over ; but of what now is doing, thfe tragedy is
at present acting, and that not at the further end of
the world, but what concerns thee and every one that
reads it. The stage whereon this war is fought, is
every man's own soul. Here is no neuter in this war,
the whole world is engaged in the quarrel, either for
God against Satan, or for Satan against God. It was
a great question some years past, Who are you for ?
The not giving a good answer to which, hath cost
many a life. O my dear friends, think solemnly what
answer you mean to give God and conscience, when
they in a dying hour shall ask every one of you. Who
art thou for ? 'Tis an incomparable mercy, that you
are yet where you may choose your side j it will not

be

be ever so, may be not a day to an end. If once in
another world, you must then stand to your colours,
yet you may run from the devil's quarters, and be
taken into Christ's pay. The drum beats in the Gos-
pel for volunteers. O, the Lord make you willing in
the day of his power. I know you all would be on
the surest side. O what can you be sure of, while
under the devil's ensign, but damnation ? The curse
of God cleaves to him and all that take part with him.
O let not the little plunder and spoil of sinful plea-
sures and pelf, bewitch you still to follow his camp.
What is that soldier better for the booty he gets in a
fight, who before he can off with it, is himself slain
upon the place ? (so many have been served in these
wars, if report be true). 'Tis that thou must certain-
ly look for. The piece is charged, and aim taken at
thy breast, which will be thy eternal death, if thou
persistest. God's threatenings will go off at last, and
then where art thou ? where, but in hell, where thy
wedge of gold and Babylonish garment, thy wages of
unrighteousness, will do thee little stead? O neigh-
bours, I am loth to leave you in the way where God's
bullets fly j but I must have a word with you, my
Christian friends, who have espoused Christ's quarrel,
and are in the field against Satan. My heart is to-
wards you, who have thus willingly offered yourselves
among the Lord's people to his help against the
mighty. He can destroy him without you, but he
takes your love as kindly as if he could not. God
hath sent me (as Jesse did David) with this little pre-
sent to you and the rest of my brethren that are in his
camp. May it be but to the strengthening of your
hearts and hands in fighting the Lord's battles, and I
shall bless God that put it into my heart thus to visit

you.

vi

you. O hold on, dear friends, in your Christian war-
fare, let none take the crown from you, Whet youi;.
courage at the throne of grace, from whence all your
recruits of soul-strength come. Send faith oft up the
hill of the promise, to see and bring you the certain
news of Christ's coming to you, yea, for you, and as-
sured victory with him. Read the exploits which
Christ's worthies by faith have done, and in their
conquests read your own, for in, them he spake with
us, as the prophet of Jacob. Be thankful for every
victory you get, and let not the howling wilderness,
yet before you, put the song of your praises for temp-
tations past !out of tune ; yet rejoice with trembling,
as those who are still in your enemies* country, and
must keep by the sword what you get by the sword ;
be sureyou stand in close order among yourselves.—
These times give us too many sad examples of sucli,
who first fell from communion with their brethren,
and then/ ipto the devourer*s band; stragglers are
soon snapped ; you will find you are safest in a body.
Take heed of a private spirit ; let not only your parti-
cular safety, but that of the whole army of saints, be in
your eye and care, especially that company in which
you match (congregation I mean) ; that soldier which
can see an enemy in fight with his brethren, and not
help them, he makes it but the more easy for the ene-
my to slay himself at last; say not therefore. Am I
my broilwr's keeper F God would not keep him that
cared not to keep his brother. Watch over one ano-
ther, not to play the critic on your brother's failings,
and triumph when he halts, but to help bim up if he
falls J or, if possible, to keep him from falHng by a
timely rescue, as Abishai came to David's succour.
Keep your rank and , file. AVe see what advantage

Satan

vH

Satan hath got in these loose times, since we hav6
learned to fight him out of order, and the private sol-
dier (Christian, I mean) hath taken the officer's work
out of his hands. Harden yourselves against the scan^
ddls, *which the cowardice and treacherij of false brethren
hath given you. He is the right soldier that is not dis-
couraged by those that run from, or that are slain in
the battle ; but still presseth on to victory, though he
goes to it over thef backs of others that are killed upon
the place. In a word, disentangle your hearts what
you can from the love of and distracting cares for this
present world. No man that warreth entangleth himself
with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who
hath chosen him to he a soldier^ 2 Tim. ii. 4. If it be-
hoves any to have their will ready made, and their
worldly interests set at home-stay, then surely the
soldier : if any soldier, then the Christian. Get but
once your hearts mortified to the world, and care roll-
ed upon God, for name, estate, and relations here,
and then you are fit to march wherever Christ will
lead you. The want of this hath made many run
home to save their own private stake there, when they
should have been in the field for Christ. And now,
my Christian friends, march on, not in the confidence
of your armour, but in the power of his might, who
hath promised shortly to subdue Satan under your feet.
I have done ; only I must crave pardon of you, for
rending part of the Treatise from the other, which
neither my little strength or leisure would suffer me to
grasp at once.

But this having first put forth its hand in preaching,
can make no great breach upon that, though it get
the start a little in printing. Let me therefore, dear
friends, (if God shall make this imperfect birth any

way

via
way serviceable to your faith), humbly desire, that you
would as continue to strive at the throne of grace for
a blessing on my poor ministry among you, so also lift
up a prayer, that strength may be given to bring forth
what of this is yet undelivered, I do not send you
thither where I intend not to meet you, but shall de-
sire grace to be found faithful in striving with you,
and for you, that amongst those who find any spiritual
advantage from my weak labours, you to whom they
are chiefly devoted may not receive the least. So
prayeth

Your affectionate,

though unworthy Minister,

WILLIAM GURNALL.

Lavenfiam, Jan. i, 1655.

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

EPHESIANS— VERSE X. ,

BE STRONG IN THE LORD, &C.

CHAP. I. Of Christian Courage and Resolution j wherefore
necessary^ and how obtained - p. 5

CHAP. II. Of the Saints* Strength, where it lies^ and

wherefore laid up in God - • 13

CHAP. III. Of actifig our faith on the Almightif Power of

God - - - 20

CHAP. IV. Of acting our Faith on the Almighty Power of

God, as engaged for our Help - 25

CHAP. V. An Answer to a grand Ohjection^ that some
disconsolate Souls may raise against thefor^
mer Discourse - - 36

VERSE XI.

TAKE TO YOU THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD.

CHAP. I. Sheweth that the christless and graceless Soul
is a Soul without Armour, and therein his
Misery - - - 45

CHAP. II. The Armour we use against Satan must be di- '
vine in the Institution, such only as God ap-
points - - - 51

CHAP. III. This Armour must not only be divine by Insti-
tution^ but Constitution also - 55

CHAP. IV. Of the Untireness of our Furniture ,* it must

be the whole Armour of God - 60

CHAP.

dONTENTS,

CHAP. V. Of the Use of our spiritual Armour^ or the

Exercise of Grace - - p. 6G

THAT YE MAY BE ABLE TO STAND AGAINST THE WILES OP

THE DEVIL.

CHAP. I. Of Satan's Subtilti/^ to choose the most a^van^

tageous Seasons for tempting ■* 76

CHAP.. II. Of Satan's Subtilty in managing his Tempta~
tions^ where several Stt atagems used, bj^ him
to deceive the Christian^ are laid open 80

CHAP. III. Of Satan's Subtilty in making choice of In-
struments Jit jor his turn, to carr^ on his
tempting Design - - - 84

CHAP. IV. T/iis Point of Satan's Subtilty^ as a Tempter

to Sin^ is britfli/ applied - . 89

CHAP. V. Of the Subtilty of Satan^ as a Troubler and an
Accuser for Sin^ where many of his Wiles
w and Pohcies to disquiet the Saints* Spirits

are discovered - - 93

CHAP. VI. A brief Application of Satan's Subtilty^ as a

Troubler and Accuser for Sin - ' 101

CHAP. VII. Directions to fortify the Christian against the

Assaults and Wiles of Satan as a Troubler 103
CHAP. VIII. Of the Saints' Victf)ry over their subtle Kne-
my, and whence it is that Creatures so over^
matched should be able to stand agaitid
Satan's Wiles - , - HI

CHAP IX. An Account is given how the all- wise God
doth out'-wit the Devil in his tempting Saints
* to Sin^ wherein are laid down the Ends Sa-
tan propounds, and how he is prevented in
them all, with the gracious Issue that God
puts to these his Temptations '. - * 1 14
CHAP. X. The Application of the Point in two Branches 122

CONTENTS.

VERSE XII.

FOR WE WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD^ &C.

CHAP. I, Shewing the Ckt'tshan's Idfe here to be a con^
tmual wrestling with Sin and Satan^ and
how few are true Wrestlers ; as also how
they should manage their Combat - p. 125
CHAP. II. What is meant by Flesh and Blood ; and how
the Christian doth not^ and how he dothj
ttrestle against the same - - 137

CHAP, III. Satan*s Principality, how he came to be such
a Pt^nce, and how we may know whether we
be under him as our Prince or not - 145
CHAP. IV. The great power Satan hath, not only over the
elementaty and sensitive Part of the World,
but intellectual also^ the Souls of Men - 157
CHAP. V. Of the Time when, the Place where, and the

Subjects whom, Satan rules - 167

CHAP. VI. Of the spirituality of the DeviPs Nature, and

his extreme wickedness - 201

CHAP. VII. Of Satan's Plot to defile the ChHstian's Spi^

rit with Heart'Sins - - 208

CHAP. VIII. How Satan labours to corrupt the Christian's

Mind with Error - V 214

CHAP, IX. Of Pride of Gifts, and how Satan tempts the

Christian thereto - - 219

CHAP.X. Of Pride of Grace . . 229

CnPLP.^h Of Pride of Privileges - - 239

CHAP, XII. What the Prize is, which Believers wrestle
. for, against those Principalities, Powers,
and spiritual Wickednesses - - 245

CHAP. XIII. An Exhortalioji tojhe Pursuit of Heaven

and heavenly Things - - 257

• VERSE

CONTENTS.

VERSE xm.

WHEREFORE TAKE TO YOU THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD, &C.

CHAP* I. The Reason why the Apostle renews the same
Exhortation ; as also what Truths Ministers
are often to preach to their People - p. 264

CHAP. II. The best of Saints subject to decline in Grace,
and why we are to endeavour a Recovery of
Decays in Grace - ' - 267

CHAP. III. A cautionary Direction from what we may
not^ as also from, what we may, judge our
Graces to be in a Declination - 270

CHAP. IV. A Word of Counsel for the Recovery of decline

ing Grace - - - 274

CHAP. V. What is meant by the Evil Day - 279

CHAP. VI. The Day of Affliction is evil, and in what re-
spects ; as also unavoidable^ and why to be
prepared for - - - 281

CHAP. VII. The Application of the Point - 290

CEA.F,YIIL The second Argument - - 297

EPHES. VI. 14.

STAND THEREFORE, &C.

CHAP. I. Wherein is briefly shewn the Necessity of re-
sisting Satan's Temptations, with the Dan-
ger of yielding to them - - 318

CHAP. II. Whtrein is shewn what it is for a Christian to
stand in order, together with his Duty in
.this particular ,• and the Danger of Strag-
glers from their own Place - S22

CHAP. III. Wherein is contained the Uiird and last Im-
portance of the word Stand ; and the Chris-
tianas Duty of standing on his Watch spoken
to ; why he is to watch, and how - 330

VERSE

CONTENTS.

VERSE XIV.

AND HAVING YOUR LOINS GIRT ABOUT WITH TRUTH.

CHAP. I. Wherein is contained a brief Explication of

the Words - - - p. 336

CHAP, II. The Christian's Duty to labour for a Judg^
ment established in the Truths with the
Reasons of it^ as also some Application of
the Point - - - 339

CHAP. III. Some Directions for the establishing the

Judgment of Professors in the Truth - 347

CHAP. IV. The second Way of having our Loins girt with
the Truth, viz. so as to make a free and
bold Profession of it^ and why this is our
Duty^ and a short Exhortation to it - 352

CHAP. V. A Direction for the girding of Truth close

to us in the Profession of it - 357

CHAP. VI. Of Truth of Hearty or Sincerity^ with the
Kindsofit ; and in particular of Moral
Uprightness^ together with its Deficiency^
and a double Caution about this ; the one
to the Saint, the other to the morally up'
right Person ... ^Q"^

CHAP. VII. Of evangelical or godly Sincerity, what it is,
and what uncomeliness this Girdle covers,
as also how it covers them - - 373

CHAP. VIII. An Account why Sincerity covers the Saints*

Uncomeliness - - - 384

CHAP. IX. Of the odious Nature of Hypocrisy, and

Hatefulness. of it to God -, - 391

CHAP. X. Where all are stirred up to put themselves
upon the Trial, whether sincere or not ;
three Arguments used to provoke to the
Work, and four false Characters, by which
the Hypocrite flatters himself into a Con^
ceit of being upright - - 401

CHAP.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. XI. The weak Grounds^ whereby tempted Souls

argue against their own Uprightness p. 407
CHAP. XII. Four Characters of Truth of Heart or Sin»

verity - - - - 415

CHAP. XIII. A word of Direction to those who upon Trial

are found unsound and false-hearted 426
CHAP. XIV. An Kxhortation to those who upon Trial are
found to be true in Hearty or sincere^ to
wear this Belt close gii^t to them in the
daily Exercise ofit^ with Directions foi^
that purpose - • - 431

CHAP. XV. Counsel and Comfort to those who are sin»
cere^ but drooping ^ doubting Souls ; who
neither are condemned absolutely in their
Consciences for Hypocrites^ nor fully ab"
solved from the Suspicion of it in their
own thoughts - - - 444

CHAP. XVI. The second Reason of the Metaphor is
opened ; why Sincerity is set out by the
Soldier^ s Belt J viz, from the establishing
and strengthening Nature of this Grace ;
with some special Reasons wherein the
Hypocrite falls off ~ - 452

CHAP. XVII. Of the recovering Strength that Sincerity

hath, and whence - - 457

CHAP. XVIII. Of a supporting and comforting Property
Sincerity hath; shewn in several In^
stances - - - 460

CHAP. XIX. A brief applicatory Improvement of the
Pointy both in general and particular
Branches - . - 4G9

A

TREATISE

OF THE

WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD.

^ INTRODUCTION.

]Fma%, WH/ brethren f he strong in the Lord, and in the power of
his mighty Ephes. Vi. 10.

A. / - \ _

T>AUJLi was now in bonds, yet not so close kept as to be denied
■*• pen and paper; God (it seems) gave him some favour in the
sight of his enemies : Paul was Nero's prisoner, but Nero was
much more God's. And while God^ had work for .Paul, he
found him friends both iu Court and prison.

Let persecutors send the Saints to prison, God can provide a
keeper for their turn.

But how doth this great Apostle s|)end his time in prison ? Not
in publishing invectives against those (though the worst of men)
who had laid him in ; a piece of zeal which the holy sufferers of
those times were little acquainted with : Nor in politic councils,
how he might wind himself out of his trouble, by sordid flattery
^f, or sinful compliance with, the great ones of the times; Some
i^ouldhave used any pick-lock to have opened a passage to their
liberty, and not scrupled (so escape they might) whether they
got out at the door or window : Eut this holy man was not so
fond of liberty or life, as to purchase them at the least hazard to
the gospel. He knew too much of another world, to bid so high
for the enjoying of this ; and therefore he is at a point what his
enemies can do with him, well knowing he could go to Heavea
whether they would or no : No, the great care which lay upon
him, was for the churches of Christ j as a faithful steward he la-
bours to set this House of God in order before his departure. —
We read of no dispatches sent to court to procure his liberty ;
but many to the churches to help them to stand fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made them fiee. There is no such way to
be even with the devil and his instruments, lor all their spight
against us, as by doing what good we can wherever we come*—
The devil had as good have let Paul alone, for he no soonercomes
into prison but he falls a preaching, at which the gates of satan's
prison fly open, and poor sinuers come forth. "Happy for Onesi-
nius that Paul was sent to gaol I God had an errand for Paul to

A d<>

'i Be Strong*

do to him and others, which the devil never dreamed of, Na^r,
he doth not only preach in prison, but, that he may do the devil
all the mischief he can, he sends his epistles to the churches, that,
tasting his spirit in his afflictions, and reading of his faith, now
ready to be offered up, they might much more be confirmed ;
amongst which Ephesus w^as not least in his thoughts, as you may
perceive by his abode with them two years together. Acts xix.
10. ; as also by his sending for the elders of this Church as far as
Miletus, in his last journey to Jerusalem, Acts xx. 17. to take
his farewel of them, as never to see their face in this world more.
And surely the sad impression which that heart-breaking depar-
ture left upon the spirits of these elders, yea, the whole church
(by them acquainted with this mournful news), might stir up
Paul, now in prison, to write unto this church, that having so
much of his spirit, yea, of the spirit of the gospel left in their
hands, to converse with, they might more patiently take the
news of his death.

In the former part of this epistle he soars high in the mysteries
of faith. In the latter, according to his usual method, he de-
scends to application ; where we find him contracting all those
truths, as beams, together, in a powerful exhortation, the more
to Enkindle their hearts, and powerfully persuade them to walk
worthy of their vocation^ chap. iv. 1. ; which then is done, whem
the Christian's life is so transparent, that the grace of the gospel
shines forth in the power of holiness on every side, and from all
his relations, as a candle in a chrystal glass, not in a dark Ian-
thorn, lightsome one way and dark another ; and therefore he
inins over the several relations of husband, ^ifi^ pm^ents, chil-
dren, master, and servants, and presseth the same in all these.,

Now having set every one in his proper place, about his parti-
cular duty, (as a wise general after he hath ranged his army, and
drawn them forth into rank and file,) he makes this following
speech at the head of this Ephesian camp, all in martial phrase,
as best suiting the Christian's calling, which is a continued war-
fare with the world, and the Prince of the world. The speech
itself contains two parts :

First, A short, but sweet and powerful encouragement, v. 10.

Secondly, The other part is spent in several directions, for
their managing, this war the more successfully, with some motives
here and there sprinkled among them. To begin with the first :

First, The word of encouragement to battle. With this he be-
gins his speech : Finalhf, my brethren, be strong in the Lm^d ;
the best way indeed to prepare them for the folloAving directions.
A soul deeply possessed with fear, and dispirited with strong im-
pressions of danger, is in no posture for counsel. As we see in
an array when put to flight by sudden alarm, or apprehension of

danger,

^Wac

Be Strong, 5

danger, it is bard rallying them into order till the fright occa.
sioned tlierfeby is over ; therefore the Apostle first raiseth up their
spirits. Be strong in the Lord : As if he should say, perhaps
some drooping souls find their hearts fail thera, while they see
their enemies so strong, and they so weak ; so numerous, and
they so few ; so well appointed, and they so naked and unarmed ;
so skilful and expert at arms, but they ^reen and raw soldiers :
liet not these, or any other thoughts dismay you, but with un-
daunted courage march on, and be strong in the Lord ; on whose
performance lies the stress of the battle, and not on your skill
or strength : It is not the least of a minister's care and skill in
dividing the word, so to press the Christian's duty, as not to op-
press his spirit with the weight of it, by laying it on the crea- '
ture*s own shoulders, and not on the Loijd's strength, as here our
Apostle teacheth us.

In this verse, First, here is a familiar compellation ; Mi^ hreth"
ren.

Secondly, here is the exhortation ; Be strong.

Thirdly, Here is a cautionary direction annexed to the exhor-
tation ; In the L(yrd,

Fourthly, Here is an encouraging amplification of the direc-
tion J And in the power of his mighty or in his mighty power.

CHAP. I.

Of Christian courage and resolution ; wherefore necessary^ and

how obtained.

XJf^E shall wave the compellation, and begin with the exhorta-
tion. Be strong, that is, be of good courage, so common-
ly used in scripture phrase, 2 Chron. xxxii. 7. Be strong a/nd
comageotis. So Isa. xxxv. 4. Sa^ to them that are of a fear-
ful hearty Be strong. Or, unite all the powers of your souls,
and muster up your whole force, for you will have use for all you
can make or get. From whence the point is this.

Doct. The Christian, of all men, needs courage and resolu-
tion. Indeed there is nothing he doth as a Christian, or can do,
but is.an act of valour ; a cowardly spirit is beneath the lowest
duty of a Christian, Josh. i. 7. Be thou strong and veri/ courage,-
ous^ that thou may est ; what, stand in battle against those war-
like nations ? No, but that thou mayest observe to do according
to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee. It re-
quires more prowess and greatness of spirit to obey God faithful-
ly, than to command an army of men ; to be a Christian than to
be a captain. What seems less than for a Christian to pray ?

A 2 yet

6 ' Be Strong*

yet this cannot be performed aright without a princely spirit : a#
Jacob is said to behave himself like a prince, when he did but
pray ; for which he came out of the field God*s banneiite. In-
deed if you call that prayer, which a carnal person performs ; no-*
thing is more poor and dastard-like. Such a one is as great a stran-
ger to this enterprise, as the Craven soldier is to the exploits of a
valiant chieftain. The Christian in prayer comes up close to God,
with an humble boldness of faith, and takes hold of him, wrestles
with him ; yea, will not let him go without a blessing, and all
this in the face of his own sins, and divine justice^ which let fly
upon him from the fiery mouth of the law : while the other's
boldness in prayer is but the child either of ignorance in his
mind, or hardness in his heart ; whereby not feeling his sins, and
not knowing his danger, he rushes upon duty with a bhnd confi-
dence, which soon quells when conscience awakes, and gives him
the alarm that his sins are upon him, as the Philistines on Sam-
son : alas, then, in a fright the poor-spirited wretch throws down
his weapon, flies the presence of God with guilty Adam^ and dares
not look him in the face. Indeed there is no duty in a Chris-
tian's whole course of walking with God, or acting for God,
but is lined with many diflSculties, which shoot, like enemies
through the hedges, at the Christian, whilst he is marching to-
wards Heaven ; so that he is put to dispute every inch of ground

^ as he goes. They are only a few noble spirited souls (who dare ,
take heaven by force) that are fit for this calling. For the fur-
ther proof of this point, see some few pieces of service that every*
Christian engageth in.

First, The Christian is to proclairti and prosecute an irrecon-
cileable war against his bosom sins ; those sins which have lain
nearest his heart, must now be trampled under his feet. So Da-
vid, / have kept myself from mine iniquity. Now what courage

' and resolution doth this require ? You think Abraham was tried
to purpose, when called to take his son^ his son Isaac, his only
son whom he loved, Gen. xxii. 2. and offer him up with his
own hands, and no other ; yet what was that to this ? soul, take
thy lust, thy only lust, which is the child oPthy dearest love, thy
Isaac, the sin which has caused most joy and laughter, from which
thou hast promised thyself the greatest retuiii of pleasure or pro-
fit ; as ever thou lookest to see my face with comfort, lay hands
on it, and offer it up : pour out the blood of it before me ; run
the sacrificing knife of mortification into the very heart of it ;
and this freel}^, joyfully, (for it is no pleasing sacrifice that is
offered with a countenance cast down), and all this now, be-
fore thou hast one embrace more from it. Truly this is a hard
chapter : flesh and blood cannot bear this saying ; our lust will
not lie so patiently on the altar, as Isaac, or as a Lamb that is

brought

Be Strong, 7

hrought to the slaughter,, which is dumb, but will roar aiid shriek 5
yea, even shake and rend the heart with their hideous outcries.
Who is able to express the conflicts, the wrestlings, the convul-
sions of spirit the Christian feels, before he can bring his heart to
this work I Or who can fully set forth the art, the rhetorical
insinuations, which such a lust will plead with for itself ? One
while satan will extenuate and mince the matter : It is but a little
one, O spare it, and thy soul shall live for all that. Another
■while he flatters the soul with the secrecy of it ; Thou mayest
keep me and thy credit also : I will not be seen abroad in thy
company, to shame thee among thy neighbours ; shut me up in
the most retired room thou hast in thy heart, from the hearing of
others, if thou wilt only let me now and then have the wanton
embraces of thy thoughts and aflections in secret. If that cannot
be granted, then satan will seem only to desire execution may be
stayed a- while, as Jephtha's daughter of her father,; Let me alone
a month or two, and then do to me according to that which hath
proceeded out of thy mouth,, Judg. xi. 2, 37. well knowing few
such reprieved lusts but at last obtain their full pardon, yea, re-
cover their favour with the soul. Now what resolution doth it
require to break through such violence and importunity, and not-
withstanding all this to do present execution ? Here the valiant
swordsmen of the world have shewed themselves mere cowards,
who have come out of the field with victorious banners, and then
lived, yea, died slaves to a bare lust at home. As one could say
^of a great Roman champion, who, as he rode in his triumphant
chariot through Rome, had his eye never oflP a courtezan that
walked along the street : Behold, how this goodly captain, that
conquered such potent armies, is himself conquered by one silly
woman !

Secondly, The Christian is to walk singularly, not after the
world's guise, Rom. xii. 2. We are commanded not to be con-
formed to this world ; that is, not to accommodate ourselves to
the corrupt customs of the world. The Christian must not be of
such a complying nature, to cut the coat of his profession accor-
ding to the fashion of the times, or the humour of the company he
falls into ; like that courtier, who being asked how he could
keep his preferment in such changing times, which one while had
a prince for popery, another while against popery, answered. He
was jE Saliccj iwn ex Quercti ortus : He was not a stubborn
oak, but bending osier, that could yield to the wind : No, the
Christian must stand fixed to his principles, and not change his
habit ; but freely show what countryman he is, b}'^ his holy con-
stancy in the truth. Now, what an odium, what snares, what
dangers doth this singularity expose the Christian to ? Some will
hoot and mock him, as one in a Spanish fashion would be laugh-

A 3 , ed at

8 Be Strongs

ed at in ouiv streets. Thus Michael flouted David. Indeed the
world counts the Christian, for his singularity of life, the only
fool ; which I have thought gave the first occasion to that nick-
name whereby men commonly express a silly man or a fool :
Such a one (say they) is a mere Abraham ; that is, in the world's
account, a fool. But why an Abraham ? Because Abraham did
that which carnal reason (the world's idol) laughs at as mere
folly ; he left a present estate in his father's house, to go he
knew not whither, to receive an inheritance he knew not when.
And truly such fools all the saints are branded for, by the wise
world. You knoiv the 7nan and his conimunication^ said Jehu to
his companions, asking what that mad fellow came for, who was no
other than a prophet, 2 Kings ix. 11. Now this requires courage
to despise the shame, which the Christian must expect to meet
withal for his singularity. Shame is that which proud nature
most disdains : to avoid which, many durst not confess Christ
oipenly, John vii. \d. Many lose heaven, because they are
ashamed to go in a fool's coat thither.' Again, as some will
mocky so others will persecute to death, merely for this non-con-
formity in the Christian's principles and practices to them. This
was the trap laid for the three children ; they must dance after
]N[ebuchadne7.zar's pipe, or burn. lf.\\\% was the plot laid to en-
snare Daniel, who walked so unblameably, that his very enemies
gave him this testimony, that he had no fault, but his singu-
larity in his religion, Dan. vi. 5. 'Tis a great honour to a Chris-
tian, yea, to religion itself, wliGn all their enemies can say is, ,
They are precise, and will not do as we do. Now in such a case
as this, when the Christian must turn or burn ; leave praying, or
become a prey to the cruel teeth of bloody men ; how many poli-
tic retreats, and self-preserving distinctions would a cowardly
unresolved heart invent ! The Christian, that hath so great op-
position, had need be well locked into the saddle of his piofession,
or else he will be soon dismounted.

Thirdly, The Christian must keep on his way to heaven in the
midst of all the scandals that are cast upon the ways of God, by
the apostacy and foul falls of false professors. There were always
such in the church, who, by their sad miscarriages in judgment
and practice, have laid a stone of offence in the way of profession,
at which weak Christians are ready to make a stand (as they at
the bloody body of Asahel, 2 Sam. ii. 22.) not knowing whether
they may venture any further in their profession, seeing such
(whose gifts they so much admired) lie before them, wallowing
in the blood of their slain profession ; of zealous professors, to
prove, perhaps, fiery persecutors ; of strict performers of religi-
ous duties, irreligious atheists ; no more like the men they weie
some years past, than the vale of Sodom, (now a bog and q«ag-
» mire)

Be Strong. 9

mire) is, to what it was, when for fruitfulness compared to tlie
garden of the Lord. We had need have a holy resolution to bear
up against such discouragements, and not to faint ; as Joshua who
lived to see the whole camp of Israel (a very few excepted) re-
volting, and in their hearts turning back to Egypt, and yet with
an undaunted spirit maintained his integrity ; yea, resolved,
though not a man beside would bear him company, yet he would
serve the Lord.

Fourthly, The Christian must trust in a withdrawing God,
Isa. i. 10. Let him that walks in darkness^ and sees no lights
ti"ust in the name of the Lord, and stny npon ?iis God, This
requires a holy boldness of faith indeed to venture into God's pre-
sence, as Esther into Ahasuerus's, when no smile is to be seen on
his face, no golden sceptre of the promise perceived by the soul,
as held forth to embolden it to come near, then to press it with this
noble resolution : If I perish^ I perish : nay more, to trust not
only in a withdrawing, hut a killing God^ Job. xiii. 15. Not
whea Jjis love is hid, but when his wrath breaks forth : now for
a soul to make his approaches to God by a recumbency of faith^
while God seems to lire upon it, and shoot his frowns like enven-
omed arrows into it : this is hard work, and will try the Chris-
tian's metal to purpose. Yet such a masculine spirit we find in
that poor woman of Canaan, who takes up the bullets Christ shot
at her, and with an humble boldness of faith sends them back again
in her prayer.

Fifthly, The believer is to persevere in his Christian course to
the end of his life ; his work and his life must go off the stage to-
gether. This adds weight to every other difficulty of the Chris-
tian's calling : We have known many who have -gone into the
field, and liked the work of a soldier for a battle or two, but
soon have had enough, and came running home again ; but few
can bear it as a constant trade. Many are soon engaged in holy
duties, easily persuaded to 'take up a profession of religion, and
as easily persuaded to lay it down ; like the new moon, which
shines a little in the first part of the night, but is down before
half the night be gone ; lightsome pix)fessors in their youth,
whose old age is wrapt up in thick darkness of sin and wicked-
ness : O this persevering is a hard word ! this taking up the
cross daily, this praying always, this watching night and day,
and never laying aside our clothes and armour ; I mean, indulg-
ing ourselves to remit and unbend in our holy waiting on God,
and walking with God, this sends many sorrowful away from
Christ ; yet this is the saint's duty, to make religion his every-
day-work, without any vacation from one end of the year to the
other. These few instances are enough to shew what need the
Christian hath of resolution. The application follows.

A 4 Vse

10 Be Strong.

Use 1 . This gives us then a reason why there are so many pro-
fessors, and so few Christians indeed ; so man}'^ that run, and so
i€\v obtain ; so many go into the field against satan, and so few
come out conquerors ; because all have a desire to be happy, but
ievV have courage and resolution to grapple with the difficulties
that meet them in theirway to happiness. All Israel came joyfully
out of Egypt under Moses's conduct ; yea, and a mixed multi-
tude with them ; but when their bellies were a little pinched with
hunger, and their greedy desires of a present Canaan deferred ;
yea, instead of peace and plenty, war and penury ; they (like
white-livered soldiers) are ready to fly from their colours, and
make a dishonourable retreat into Egypt. Thus the greatest part
of those who profess the gospel, when they come to push of pike,
to be tried what they will do, and endure, for Christ, grow sick
of their enterprize : Alas I their hearts fail them, they are like
the waters of Bethlehem ; but if they must dispute their passage
with so many enemies, they will even content themselves with
their own cistern, and leave heaven to others that will venture
more for it, O how many part with Christ at this cross-Way !
like Oraph ; that go a furlong or two' with Christ, until he goes
to take them off from their worldly hopes, and bids them prepare
for hardship, and then they fairly kiss and leave him I loth, in-
deed to lose heaven, but more loth to buy it at so dear a rate. —
Ijike some green heads, that childishly make choice of some
sweet ti*ade (such as is the confectioners), from a liquorish tooth
they have to the junkets it affords ; but meeting with sour sauce
of labour and toil that goes with them, they give in, and are
weary of their service ; the sweet bait of religion hath drawn
many to nibble at it, whQ are offended with the hard service it
calls to ; it requires another spirit than the world can give or re-
ceive, to follow Christ fully.

Use 2. Let this then exhort you, Christians, to labour for this
lioly resolution and prowess, which is so needful for your Chris-
tian profession, that without it you cannot be what you profess.
The fearful are in the forlorn of those that march for hell. Rev.
xxi. The violent and valiant are they, which take heaven by
force : Cowards never won heaven. Say not, thou hast royal
blood running in thy veins, and art begotten of God, except thou
canst prove thy pedigree by this heroic spirit, to dare to be holy
in spite of men and devils. The eagle t ries her young ones b}'^ the
sun ; Christ tries his children by their courage, that dare look
on the face of death and danger for his sake, Mark viii. 34, 35.
O how uncomely a sight is it, a bold sinner, and a fearful saint !
one resolved to be wicked, and a Christian wavering in his holy
course ! to see guilt put innocency to flight, and hell keep the
field, impudently braving it with displayed banners of open pro-'

faneness.

Be Strong. 11

Ikneness, and saints to hide their colours for shame, or run from
them for fear, who should rather wrap themselves in them, and
die upon the place, than thus betray the glorious name of God,
which is called upon by them to. the scorn of the uncircumcised I
Take heart therefore, O ye saints, and be strong, your cause is
good, God himself espouseth your quarrel, who hath appointed
you his own Son general of the field, called the captam of our sal*
vation^ Heb. ii. He shall lead you on with courage, and bring
you off with honour. He lived and died for you, he will live and
die with you ; for mercy and tenderness to his soldiers, none like
him. Trajan, 'tis said, rent his clothes to bind up his soldiers
wounds ; Christ poured out his blood as balm to heal his saints
wounds, tears off his flesh to bind them up. For prowess, none
to compare with him ; he never turned his head from danger ;
no, not when hell's malice and heaven's justice appeared in field
against him : Knowing all that should come upon liiin^ wetit forth
and said f Whom seek i/e? Johnxviii. 4. For success, insupera-
ble ; he never lost battle ; even when he lost his life, he won the
field, carrying the spoils thereof in the triumphant chariot of his
ascension to heaven with him, where he makes an open shew of
them to the unspeakable joy of saints and angels, l^ou march in
the midst of gallant spirits, your fellow-soldiers, every one the son
of a prince : behold some (enduring with you here below a great
sight of afflictions and temptations) take heaven by storm and
force : Others you may see, after many assaults, repulses, and
rallyingsof their faith and patience, got upon the walls of heaven,
conquerors ; from whence they do, as it were, look down, and
call you their fellow-brethren on earth, to march up the hill after
them, crying aloud. Fall on, and the city is your own, as now it
is ours ; who, for a few days conflict, are now crowned with hea-
ven's glory ; one moment's enjoyment of which hath dried up all
our tears, healed all our wounds, and made us forget the sharp-'
ness of the fight, with the joy of our present victory. In a word.
Christians, God and angels are spectators, observing how you
quit yourselves like children of the Most High : Every exploit
your faith doth against sin and satan causeth a shout in heaven,
while you valiantly prostrate this temptation, scale that difl[iculty,
regain the other ground you even now lost, out of your enemies
hands. Your dear Saviour, (who stands by with a reserve for
your relief at a pinch) his very heart leaps within him for joy,
to see the proof of your love to him, and zeal for him in all your
combats, and will not forget all the faithful service you have done
an his wars on earth ; but when thou comest out of the field, will
receive thee with the like joy, as he was entertained himself at
his return to heaven, of his Father. Now, Christian, if thou
aneanest thus courageously to bear up against all opposition, in thy

march

IS , Be Strong.

march to heaven ; Its thou shonldest do well, to raise thy spirit
with such generous and soul- ennobling thoughts, so in an special
manner look thy principles be well fixed, or else thy heart will
be unstable, and an unstable heart is weak as water, it cannot ex-
cel in courage. Two things are required to fix our prmciples.

First, An established judgment in the truth of God. He that
knows not well what, or whom he fights for, may soon be per-
suaded to change his side, or at least stand neuter. Such may be
found, that go for professors, yet can hardly give an account what
they hope for, or whom they hope in ; yet Christians they must be
thought, tho' they run before they know their errand ; or if they
have some principles which they go. upon, they are so unsettled,
that every wind blows them down, like loose tiles from the
house-top. Blind zeal is soon put to a shameful retreat, while
holy resolution, built on fast principles, lifts up its head, like a
rock in the midst of the waves. T/iose tk^at know their God
skaUhe stroftg and do exploit f^ Dan. xi. 32. The angel told
Daniel who were the men that would stand to their tackling, and
bear up for God in that hour, both of temptation and persecu-
tion, which should be brought upon them by Antiochus : not all
the Jews ; some of them should be corrupt basely by flatteries,
others scared by threats out of their profession, only a few of fix-
ed principles, who knew their Cod whom they served, and were
grounded in their religion, these should be sti-ong, and do ex-
ploits ; that is, to flatteries they should be incorruptible, and to
power and force unconquerable.

Secondly, A sincere aim at the right end in our profession.—
Let a man be never so knowing in the things of Christ, if his aim
be not right in his profession, that man's principles will hang very
loose, he will not venture much, or far, for Christ, no more, no
further than he can save his own stake. A hypocrite may shew
some mettle at hand, some courage for a spurt, in conquering some
diflliculties ; but he will shew himself a jade at length. He who hath
a false end in his profession, will soon come to an end of his pro-
fession, when he is pinched on that toe where his corn is : I mean,
called to deny what his naught}^ heart aimed at all the while, now
his heart fails him, he can go no farther. O take heed of this
squint eye to our profit, pleasure, honour, or any thing beneath
Christ and heaven ! for they will take away your heart, as the
prophet saith of wine and women : that is. our love ; and if our
love be taken away, there will be little courag^e left for ( hrist. —
How .courageous was Jehu at first ? And he tells the wen Id, it is
zeal for God. But why doth his heart fail him then, before half
his work be done ? His heart was never right set : that very thing
that stirred up his zeal at first, at last quenched and cowed it,
and this was his ambition ; his desire of a kingdom made him zeal-
ous

Be Strong in the Lord, 13

ous against Ahab?s house, to cut them ofF (who might in time
justle him beside the throne) ; which done, and he quietly settled,
he dare not go thorough-stitch wi(h God's work, lest he should
lose what he had got, by provoking the people with a thorough
reformation. Like some soldiers, when once they meet with a
rich booty at the sacking of some town, are spoiled for fightiuj^'
ever after.

«/W«V%«<V«^'»/%«/%«/%'»^

CHAP. JT.

Of the Saints Strength ; where it lies, and wherefore laid up

in God,

T^HE second branch of the words followeth, which contains a
•^ cautionary direction. Having exhorted the saints at Ephe-
sus, and in them all believers, to a holy resolution and courage
in their warfare ; lest this should be mistaken, and beget in them
an Opinion of their own strengh for the battle, the apostle leads
them out of themselves for this strength, even to the Lord ; Be
strong in the Lord, From whence observe.

Doct. That the Christian's sti-ength lies in the Lord, not in
himself. The strength of the general, in other hosts, li^es in his
troops ; he flies, as a great commander once said to his soldiers,
upon their wings ; if their feathers be dipt, their power broken,
he is lost : But in the army of saints, the strength of every saint,
yea, of the whole host of saints, lies in the Lord of hosts. God
can overcome his enemies without their hands ; but they cannot
so much as defend themselves without his aim. 2. It is ore of
God's names, the strength of Israel^ 1 Sara. xv. 19. He was
the strength of David's heart : without him this valiant worthy
(that could, when held up in his arms, defy him that defied a
whole army) behaves himself strangely for fear, at a word or two
that dropt from the Philistine's mouth. He was the strength of
his hands. He tatight his fingers to fight,, and so he is the
strength of all his saints in this war against sin and satan. Some
propound a question, whether there be a sin committed in the
w^orld, in which satan hath not a part ? But if the question were,
whether there be any holy action performed without the special

assistance of God concurring, that is resolved, John xv. 5

Withovt me tfou can do nothing. Thinking strength of God^ 2
Cor. iii. 5. ISfot that we are sufficient of ourselves^ to think any
ihing a^ of ourselves,^ but our sufficiency is of God, We apostles,
we saints that have habitual grace^-yet this lies like water at the
bottom of a well, which will not ascend with all our pumping, tilt

God

14 Be Strong in the Lor^,

God pour in his exciting grace, and then it comes. To will iff
more than to think ; to exert our will into action, more than both ;
these are of God, Phil. ii. \3, It is God thatworketli in you to
will and to do of his good pleasure. He makes the heart new,
and having made it fit for heavenly motion, setting every wheel
(as it were) in its right place, then he winds it up by his actuat-
ing grace, and sets it on going, the thoughts to stir, the will to
move, and make towards the holy object presented ; yet here the
chariot is set, and cannon cannot ascend the hill of action till God
puts his shoulder to the wheel, Rom. vii. To will is present with
me^ but how to perform that which is good Ifnd not. God is at the
bottom of the ladder, and at the top also, the author and finisher ;
yea, helping and lifting the soul at every round in his ascent to
any holy action. Well, now the Christian is set on work, how
long will he keep close to it ? Alas, poor soul, no longer than he
is held up by the sama hand, that empowered him at first ! He
hath soon wrought out the strength received, and therefore to
maintain the tenure of a holy course, there must be renewing-
strength from heaven every moment, which David knew ; and
therefore when his heart was in as holy a frame as ever he felt it ;
and his people by their free-will offering declared the same ; yet
even then he prays, that God would keep this for ever in the
imagination of the thoughts of the heart of his people^ and
establish their hearts to him^ 1 Chron. xxix. 18. He adored the
mercy that made them willing, and then he implores his further
grace to strengthen them, and tie a knot, that these precious
pearls, newly strung on their hearts, may not slip off. The
Christian, when fullest of divine communications, is but a glass
without a foot : he cannot stand, or hold what he hath received,
any longer than God holds him in his strong hand. Therefore
Christ, when bound for heaven, and ready to take his leave of his
children, bespeaks his Father's care of them in his absence, John
xvii. Father^ keep them : As if he had said, they must not be
left alone, they are poor shiftless children, that can neither stand
nor go without help : They will lose the grace I have given thera^
and fall into those temptations which I kept them from, while I
was with them, if they be out of thy eye or arms but one moment ;
and therefore. Father^ keep them.

Again, Consider the Christian as addressing himself to any duty
of Clod's worship, still his strength is in the Lord ; would he
pray ? Where will he find matter for his prayer ? Alas ! he
knows not what to pray for as he ought ^ Rom. viii. Let hiiu
alone, and he will soon pray himself into some temptation or
other, and cry for that which were cruelty in God to give ; and
therefore God puts words in our mouths, take words with yoit^
and soT/y ilos. xiv. 2, W^ell now he hath put words into his

mouth,

Be Strong in the Lord, 1 3

hiOulli, alas, tliey will freeze in his very lips, if he hath not some
heart-heating affections to thaw the tap ; and where shall this fire
be had ? Not a spark to be found on his own hearth, except it
be some strange tire of natural desires^ which will not serve :
Whence then must the fire come to thaw the icyness of the heart,
but from heaven ? The spirit he must stretch himself upon the
soul, (as the prophet on the child) and then the soul will come to
some kindly warmth, and heavenly heat in his affections ; the spi-
rit mast groan, and then the soul will groan ; he helps us to these
sighs and groans which turn the sails of prayer : He dissolves the
heat, and then it bursts out of the heart by groans of the lips, by
heavenly rhetoric ; out of the eyes, as from a flood-gate, with
tears ; yet further, now the creature is enabled to wrestle with
God in prayer : What will he get by all this ? Suppose he be
weak in grace, is he able to pray himself strong, or corruption
weak ? No, this is not to be found in prayer, as an act of the
creature : This drops from heaven also. Psalm cxxxviii. 2. In
the day that I cried, thou answeredst me, and gavest me
strength in my soul, David received it in duty, but had it not
from his duty, but from his God. He did not pray himself strong,
but God strengthened him in his prayer. Well, cast your eye
once more upon the Christian, as engaging in another ordinance
of hearing the word preached. The soul's strength to hear the
word is from God : he opens the heart to attend. Acts xvi, 14.
Yea, he opens the understanding of the saint to receive the word,
so as to conceive what it meant. It is like Sampson's riddle,
which we cannot unfold without his heifer : He opens the womb
of the soul to conceive by it, as the understanding to conceive of
it, that the barren soul becomes a joyful mother of children. Da-
vid sat for half a year under the public lectures of the law, and
the womb of his heart shut up, till Nathan comes, and God with
him ; and now is the time of life, he conceives presently ; yea,
and brings forth in the same day, falling presently into the bitter
pangs of sorrow for his sins, which went not over till he had cast
them forth in that sweet Psalm li. Why should this one word
work more than all the former, but that God now struck in with
his word, which he did not before ? He is, therefore, said, to
teach his people to profit, Isaiah xlviii. \7. He sits in heaven
that teacheth hearts. When God's spirit (who is the head mas-
ter) shall call a soul from his usher to himself, anU say. Soul, \o\x
have not gone the way to thrive by hearijig the word ; thus and
thus conceive of such a truth, improve such a promise; presently
the eyes of his understanding open, and his heart burns within
him while he speaks to him. Thus you see the truth of this
point, that the Christian's strength is in the Lord. Now we
shall give some demonstrations.

' , SECT.

1(3 Be Strong m the Lord*

SECT. I. — Reas. 1. The first reason may be taken front
the nature of the saints, and their grace : both are creatures, they
and their grace also ; now, inesse est deesse creaturce, 'Tis in
the very nature of the creature to depend on God, its maker, both
for being and operation. Can you conceive an accident to be out
of its subject, whiteness out of the wall, or some other subject ?
'Tis as impossible that the creature should be, or act, without
strength from God : This, to be, act in and of himself, is so in-
communicable a property of the Deity, that he can«ot impart it
to his creature : God is^ and there is none besides him ; when
Crod made the world, it is said, indeed, that he ended his work ;
that is, of creation : he made no new species and kinds of crea-
tures more ; but to this day he hath not ended his work of pro-
vidence : Hitherto my Father worketh^ saith Christ, John v. 17.
that is, in preserving, and empowering what be hath made with
strength to be and act, and therefore he is said to hold our souls
in life. Works of art, which man makes, when finished, may
stand some time without the workman's help, as the house, when
the carpenter that made it is dead ; but God's works of nature
and grace are never off his hand, and therefore, as the Father is
said to work hitherto for the preservation of the works of nature,
so the Son, to whom is committed 'the work of redemption, he
tells us he worketh also. Neither ended he his work when be
rose again, any other way than his Father did the work of crea-
tion. God made an end of making, so Christ made an end of
purchasing mercy, grace, and glory, for believers, by once dy-
ing ; and as God rested at the end of the creation, so he, when
he had wrought eternal redemption, and hy himself purged our
sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majestif on high^ Heb. ii
3. But he ceased not to work by his intercession with God for
us, and by his spirit in us for God, whereby he upholds his saints,
their graces, and comforts in life, without which they would run
to ruin. Thus we see, as grace is a creature, the Christian de-
pends on God for his strength. But further.

Secondly, The Christian's grace is not only a creature, but a
weak creature, conflicting with enemies stronger than itself, and
therefore cannot keep the field without an auxiliary strength from
heaven. The weakest goes to the wall, if no succour comes in.
Grace in this life is but weak, like a king in the cradle, which
gives advantage^ to satan to carry on his plots more strongly, to
the disturbance of this young king's reign in the soul ; yea, he
would soon make an end of the war, in the ruin of the believer^'^J
grace, did not heaven take the Christian into protection. 'Tis
true, indeed, grace, wherever it is, hath a principle in itself, that
makes it desire and endeavour to preserve itself according to its
strength j but, being overpowered, must perish, except assisted by

God;

Be Strong in the Lord, 17

God : as fire in green wood (vvhich deads and damps the part
kindled) will in time go oirt, except blown up, or more fire put to
that little ; so will grace in the heart. God brings bis grace in-
to the heart by conquest : Now, as in a conquered city, though
some yield and become true subjects to the conqueror, yet others
plot how they may shake oft' his yoke ; and therefore it requires
.the same power to keep, as was to win it at first . 7'be Christian
hath an unregenerate part, that is discontented at this new change
in the heart, and disdains as much to come under the sweet go-
vernment of Christ's sceptre, as the Sodomites, that Lot should
judge them. What, this fellow, a stranger, controul us ? And
satan heads this mutinous route against the Christian : So that if
God should not continually reinforce this his new-planted colony*
' in the heart, the very natives (I mean corruptions) that are left,
would come out of their dens and holes, where they lie lurking,
and eat up the little grace the holiest on earth hath ; it would be
as bread to these devourers.

3. A third demonstration may be taken from the grand design
which God propounds to himself in the saints salvation ; yea, in
the transaction of it from first to last ; and that is two-fold.

First, God would bring his saints to heaven in such a way as
might be most expressive of his dear love and mercy to them.

Secondly, He would so express his love and mercy to them, as
might rebound back to him in the highest advance of his own
glory possible : Now, how becoming this is to both, that saints
should have all their ability for every step they take in the way to
heaven, will soon appear.

1. This way of communicating strength to saints, gives a
double accent to God's love and mercy.

First, It distils a sweetness into all that the believer hath or
doth, when he finds any comfort in his bosom, any enlargement of
heart to duty, any support under temptations : to consider whence
come all these, what friend sends them in ? 'Ihey. come not from
my own cistern, or any creature's : O 'tis my Gotl that hath been
here, and left his sweet perfume of comfort behind him in my bo-
fiom ; my God, that hath (unawares to me) filled my sails with*
the gales of his spirit, and brought me off the flats of my own
deadness, where I lay aground. O 'tis his sweet spirit that held
my head, stayed my heart in such an affliction and temptation, or
else I had gone away in a fainting fit of unbelief. How can this
chuse but endear God to a gracious soul ? His succours coming
so immediately from heaven, which would be lost, if the Christian
had any strength to help himself (though this stock of strength
came at first from God), which, think you, speaks more love and
condescension, for a prince to give a pension to a favourite, on
which he may live by his own care; or for this prince to take the

chief

18 Be Strong in the Lord,

chief care upon himself, and come from day to day to this man'^
house, and k)ok into his cupboard, and see what provision he hath^ .
what expence he is at, and so constantly to provide for the man
from time to time ? Possibly some proud spirit, that likes to be
his own man, or loves his means better than his prince, would
prefer the former ; but one that is ambitious to have the heart
imd love of his prince, would be ravished with the latter. Thus
God doth with his saints ; the great God comes and looks into
their cupboard, and sees how they are laid in, and sends in ac-
cordingly as he finds them. Your heavenly father knows you
have need of these things, and you shall have them. He knows
you need strength to pray, hear, suffer for him, and in ipsa hora
dalntur.

Secondly, This way of God's dealing with his saints adds to
the fulness and stability of their strength. Were the stock in
our own hands, we should soon prove broken merchants. God
knows we are but leaking vessels ; when fullest, we could not
hold it long ; and therefore, to make all sure, he set us under the
streamings forth of his strength, and a leaking vessel, under a
cock, gets what it loseth. Thus we have our leakage supplied
continually. This was the provision God made for Israel in the
wilderness; he clave the rock, and the rock followed tlvem.--K
They had not only a draught at present, but it ran in a stream
after them ; so that you hear no more of their complaints for
water : This rock was Christ. Every believer hath Christ at
his back, following him with strength as he goes, for every con-
dition and trial. One flower with the root is worth many in a.
posy, which, though sweet, yet do not grow, but wither as we
wear them in our bosoms. God's strength, as the root, keeps-
our grace lively, without which, though as orient as Adam's was,
it would die.

2. The second design God hath in his saints happiness, is, that
he may so express his mercy and love to them, as may rebound
back to him in the highest advance of his own glory therein,
Eph. i. 4. 12. which is fully attained in his way of empowering
'saints, by a strength not of their own, but of their God's sending,
as they are put in expence. Had God given his saints a stock
of grace to have set up w ith, and left them to the improvement
of it, he had been magnified indeed, because it was more than God
did owe the creature ; but he had not been omnified as now, when
not only the Christian's first strength to close with Christ is from
God, but he is beholden still to God for the exercise of that
strength, io every action of his Christian course. As a child
that travels in his father's company, all is paid for, but his father
carries the purse, not himself; so the Christian's shot is dis-
charged in every condition, but he cannot sav, This I did, or that

I

Be Strong in the Lord. 19

1 suffered ; but God wrought all in me, and for me. The very
comb of pride is cut here, no room for any self-exalting thoughts.
The Christian cannot say, that I am a saint is mercy ; but being
a saint, that my faith is strong, this. is the child of my own care
and watchfulness. Alas, poor Christian I Who kept thine eye
waking, and stirred up thy care ? Was not this the offspring of
God, as well as thy faith at first ? No saint shall say of heaven
when he comes there. This is teaven which I have built by the
power of my might. No: Jerusalem above i& a citify whose
builder and maker is God. Every grace, yea, degree of grace^
is a stone in that building, the top-stone whereof is laid in glory,,
where saints shall more plainly see, how God was not o;ily foun-
der to begin, but benefactor also to finish the same. The glory
of the work shall pot be crumbed, and piece-mealed out, §ome to
God, and some to creature ; but all entirely paid in to God, and
he acknovvledged all in all. .

SECT; II. Use 1. Is the Christian's strength in the Lord,nQt
in himself ? Surely then the christless person must, needs be a
poor impotent creature, void of all strength and ability of doing
any thing of itself towards its own salvation. If the ship,
launched, rigged, and with her sails spread, cannot stir, till the
■wind come fair, and fill them ; much less can the timber that
lies in the carpenter's yard hew and frame itself into a ship. If
the living tree cannot grow except the root communicates its sap,
much less can a dead rotten stake in the hedge,, which has no»
root, live of its own accord. In a word, if a Christian, that hath
his spiritual life of grace, cannot exercise this life, without
strength from above ; then surely, one void of this new life, dead
in sins and trespasses, can never be able to beget this in himself,
or concur to the production of it. The state of unregeneracy is
a state of impotency ; when we were without strength^ in due
time Christ died for the imgodly^ Rom. v. 6. And as Christ
found the lump of mankind covered with the ruins of their lapsed
estate (no more able to raise themselves from under the weight
of God's wrath, which lay upon them, than one buried under the
rubbish of a fallen house, is to free himself of that weight without
help,) so the spirit finds sinners in as helpless a condition, as
unable to repent, or believe on Christ for salvation, as they were
of themselves to purchase it. Confounded therefore for ever be
the language of those sons of pride, who cry up the power of na-
ture, as if man, with his ovvn brick and slime of natural abilities,
were able to rear up such a building, whose top may reach heaven
itself. It is jiot of hifn that wUleth or ruiineth^ hut GQd that
sheiveth mercy., Rom, ix. 16. God himself hath scattered such
Babel-builders in the imaginations of their hearts, who raiseth-
this spiritual temple in the souls of men, not by might, nor by a

B power

iO And in the Power of his Might »

power of their own, but by his spirit ; that so grace,, grace, might
be proclaimed before it for ever. And therefore, if any yet in
their natural estate would become wise to salvation, let them first
become fools in their own eyes, and renounce their carnal wisdom,
which perceives not the things of God ; and beg wisdom of God,
who giveth, and upbraideth not. If any would have strength
to believe, let them become weak, and die to their own ; for by
Strength shall no 7nan prevailyX Sam. ii. 9.

Use 2, Secondly, Doth the Christian's strength lie in God, not
in himself? This may for ever keep the Christian humble, when
most enlarged in duty, most assisted in his Christian course. He-
member, Christian, when thou hast thy best suit on, who made
it ? who paid for it ? Thy grace, thy comfort, is neither the work
of thy own hands, nor the price of thy own desert ; be not for
shame proud of another's cost. That assistance will not long
stay, which becomes a nurse to thy pride ; thou art not Lord of
that assistance thou hast. Thy father is wise, who, when he al-
loweth thee most for thy spiritual maintenance, even then keeps
the law in his own hands, and can soon curb thee, if thou growest
wanton with his grace. Walk humbly therefore before thy God,
and husband well that strength thou hast, remembering that it is
borrowed strength. Nento prodiget quod mendtcat. Who will
waste what he begs ? or who will give that beggar that spends
idly his alms ? When thou hast most, thou canst not be long from
thy God's door. And how canst thou look him in the face for
more, who hast embezzled what thou hast received ?

VV»»»»»^»>»^»%»»>%'»

CHAP. III.

Of acting our Faith on the Almighti/ Power of God.

npHE third branch followeth, which contains an encouraging
■*' amplification annexed to the e^^hortation, in these words ;
And in the power of his mighty where a twofold inquiry is requi-
site for the explication of the phrase. First, what these words
import, T'he power of his might ? Secondly, What it is to be
strong in the power of his might 9

For the first, the power of his might : It is an Hebraism, and
imports nothing but his mighty power; like that phrase, Eph. i.
6. To the praise of the gloty of his grace^ that is, to the praise
of his glorious grace. And his mighty power imports no less than
his almighty power ; sometimes the Lord is stiled mighty and
strong, as Psal. xxiv. 8. sometimes most mighty, sometimes Al-
mighty 5 no less is meant in all, than God's infinite almighty
power.

For

And in ike Power of his Might* 21

For the scconc^, To be strong in the mighty power, or power
<t)f the Lord's mighty implies these two acts of faith.

First, a settled firm persuasion, that the Lord is almighty iu
power. Be strong in the potter of his f night ; that is, be strong-
ly rooted in your faith, concernuig this one foundation-truth, that
God is almighty.

Secondly, It implies a further act of faith, not only to believe
that God is almighty, but also that this almighty power of God is
engaged for its defence : So as to bear up in the midst of all trials
and temptations undauntedly, leaning on the arm of God Al-
mighty, as if it were his own strength ; for that is the apostle's
drift — as to beat us oflf from leaning on our own sti-ength, so to
encourage the Christian to make use of God's almighty power,
as freely as if it were his own, whenever assaulted by satan in any
kind. As a man set ujwn by a thief, stirs up all the force and
Strength he hath in his whole body to defend himself, and offend
his adversary, so the apostle bids the Christian he strong in the
Jj)rd, and in the power of his mighty that is, Soul, away to thy
God, whose mighty power is all intended and devoted by God
himself for thy succour and defence. Go strengthen and in-
trench thyself in it by a stedfast faith, as that which shall be laid
out to the utmost for thy good. From whence these two notes, I
conceive, will draw out the fatness of the words.

1. That it should be the Christian's gieat care and endeavour,
in all temptations and trials, to strengthen his faith on the al-
mighty power of God.

^« The Christian's duty and care is not only to believe that
God is almighty, but strongly by faith to rest on this almighty
power of God, as engaged for his help and succour, in all his trials
^id temptations.

Doct. First, It should be the Christian's great care, in all
temptations and trials, to strengthen his faith on the almighty
power of God. When God holds forth himself as an object of
the soul's trust and confidence in any great strait or undertaking,
commonly this attribute of his almighty power is presented in
the promise, as the surest hold-fast for faith to lay hold on ; as a
father in a rugged way gives his child his arm to lay hold by j so
doth God usually reach forth his almighty power for his saints, to
exercise their faith on. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose faith
God tried above most of his saints before or since, for not one of
those great things which were promised to them, did they live to
see performed in their days ; and how doth God make knowu
himself to them for their support, but by displaying this attribute,
Fxod. vi. 3. 1 appeared unto Abraham^ Isaac^ and Jacob ^ bi/ the
name of God Almighty, This was all they had to keep house
with all their days ; with which they lived comfortably, and

B 2 died

22 And in the Power of his Might,

died triumphantly, bequeathing the promise to their children, iiot
doubting (because God Almighty had promised) of the perfor-
mance. Thus, Isa. xxvi. where great mercies are promised to
Judah, and a song penned before-hand, to be sung on that gaudy
day of their salvation ; yet because there was a sharp winter of
captivity to come between the promise, and the spring time of
the promise ; therefore to keep their faith alive in this space, the
prophet calls them up to act their faith on God Almighty, ver. 4.
Trtist ye in the Lord Jehovah^ for in the Lord Jehovah is
everlasting strength. So when his saints are going into the fur-
nace of persecution, what now doth he direct their faith to carry
to prison, to stake with them, but his almighty power ? I Pet. iv.
19. Let them that sujfer commit the keeping of their souls to
hinif as to a faithful Creator, Creator is a name of almighty
power. We shall now give some reasons of the point.

Reas, 1 . First, Because it is no easy work to make use of this
truth, (how plain and clear soever it now appears) in great
plunges of temptation, that God is almighty : to vindicate this
name of God from those evil reports, which satan and carnal rea-
son raise against it, requires a strong faith indeed. I confess this
principle is a piece of natural divinity : That light which finds
out a Deity, will evince (if followed close) this God to be Al-
mighty ; yet in a carnal heart, it is like a rusty sword, hardly
drawn out of the scabbard, and so of little or no use. Such
truths are so imprisoned in natural conscience, that they seldom
get a fair hearing in the sinner's bosom, till God gives them a
goal-delivery, and brings them out of their house of bondage,
where they are shut up in unrighteousness, with the high hand of
his convincing spirit. Then, and not till then, the soul will be-
lieve God is holy, merciful, almighty ; nay, some of God's pecu-
liar people, and not the meanest for grace amongst them, have
had their faith for a time set in this slough, much ado to get over
those difficulties and improbabilities, which sense and reason have
objected, so as to rely on the Almighty power of God, with a not-
withstanding. Moses himself, a star of the first magnitude for grace,
yet see how his faith blinks and twinkles, till he wades out of
the temptation : Numb. xi. 21. The people amongst whom I am^
are six hundred tlmiisand, and thou hast said, I will give them
flesh that they may eat a whole month ; shall the flocks and the
herds be slain for them, to suffice them 9 This holy man had lost
the sight, for a time, of the Almighty power of God ; and now he
is projecting how this should be done ; as if he had said, in plain
terms, How can this be accomplished ; for so God intei-prets his
reasoning, ver. 23. And the Lord said unto Moses^ Is the
Lord^s hand waxed short 9 So Mary, John xi. 32. Lord^ if thou
hadst been here^ my brother had not died* And her sister,

Martha,

And in the Power of his Might. 23

Martha, ver. 39. Lord^ hy this time he stinketh. Both gracious
womten, yet both betrayed the weakness of their faith on the al-
mighty power of Christ, one limiting him to place ; If thou hadst
been here, he had not died ; as if Christ could not have saved his
life absent, as well as present ; sent his health to him, as well as
brought it with him. The other to time : Now he stinketh :
as if Christ had brought his physick too late, and the grave would
not deliver up its prisoner at Christ's command. And hast thou
such an high opinion of thyself. Christian, that thy faith needs not
thy utmost care and endeavour, for furtlier establishment on the
almighty power of God, when thou seest such as these dash their
foot against this kind of temptation ?

The second reason may be taken from the absolute necessity of
this act of faith above others, to support the Christian in the
hour of temptation. All the Christian's strength and comfort is
fetched without doors, and he hath none to send on his errand but
faith : This goes to heaven, and knocks God up ; as he in the
parable, his neighbour at midnight for bread : Therefore whea
faith fails, and the soul hath none -to go to market for supplies,
there must needs be a poor house kept in the mean time, Now
faith is never quite laid up, till the soul denies, or at least ques-
tions the power of God. Indeed, when the Christian disputes
the will of God, whispering within his own bosom. Will he par-
don ? Will he save ? This may make faith go haltingly to the
throne of grace, but not knock the soul off from seeking the face
of God ; even then, faith on the power of God will bear it com-
pany thither: If t/imt wilt, thou canst make me clean ^ Matth.
viii. 2. If thou wilt, thou canst pardon, thou canst purge : But
when the soul concludes he cannot pardon, cannot save, this
shoots faith to the heart, so that the soul falls at the foot of satan,
not able more to resist. Now it grows listless to duty, indifferent
whether it pray or not ; as one that sees the well dry, breaks or
throws away his pitcher.

Thirdly, Because God is very tender of this flower of his
crown, this part of his name ; indeed he cannot spell it right, and
leave out this letter ; for that is God's name, whereby he is
known from all his creatures. Now, man may be called wise,
merciful, mighty : God only all-wise, all-merciful, all-mighty ;
so when we leave out this syllable all, we nick-name God, and
call him by his creature's name, which he will not answer to. —
Now the tenderness that God shews to this prerogative of his
appears in three particulars.

First, in the strict command he lays on his people, to give him
the glory of his power, Isa. viii. 12, 13. Fear ye not their fear,
but sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself ; that is, in this sad pos-
ture of your affairs, when your enemies associate, and you seem -

B 3 a lost

24 Attd in the Power of his Mighf.

a lost people to the eye of reason, not able to contest with such
united powers which beset you on every side : Now I charge you^
sanctify nae, in giving me the glory of my almighty power 5 be-
lieve that your God is able of himself, without any other, to de-
fend you, and destroy them.

Swondly, In his seventy to his dearest children, when they
stagger in their faith, and come not off roundly (without reason-
ing and disputing the case) to rely on his almighty power j Za?
charias did but ask the angel, How shall I know this, because I
am an old man, and my wife stricken in years ? Yet for bewray-
ing therein his unbelief, had a sign indeed given him, but such a
one as did not only strengthen his faith, but severely punish hLs
unbelief ; for he was struck dumb upon the place. God loves
his children should believe his word, nor dispute his power ; so
true is that of Luther, Ueus amat curristas iion qtuBristm, —
That which gave accent to Abraham's faith, Rom. iv. 21. was
that he W2ls fully persuaded^ tliatwh<it God had pt-omised^ he was
able to perform.

Thirdly, In the way God takes of giving his choicest mercies
and greatest salvations to his people, wlierein he lajs the scene of
his providence so, that wlien he hath done, it may be said, al-
mighty power was here. And therefore God commonly puts
down those means and second causes, which, if they stood about
his work, would blind and hinder the full prospect thereof in af-
fecting the same, 2 Cor. i. 9. We received the sentence of death
in ourselves^ that we might not trust in ourselves^ hut in God
which raiseth the dead. Christ stayed while Lazarus was dead,
that he might draw the eyes of their faith more singly to look on
his power, by raising his dead friend, rather than curing hiia,
being sick, which would not have carried so full a conviction of
almightiness witli it. Yea, he suffers a contrary power many
times to arise in that very juncture of time, when he intends the
mercy to his people, that he may rear up the more magnificent
pillar of remembrance to his own power, in the ruin of that which
contests with him. Had God brought Israel out of Egypt ia the
time of those Kings which knew .Toseph, most likely they might
have had a friendly departure and an easy deliverance ; but Goa
reserves this for the reign of that proud Pharoah, who shall cruel-
ly oppress them, and shall ventuie his kingdom, but he will sa-
tisfy his lust upon them. And why must this be the time ? But
that God would bring them forth with a stretched-out arm ; the
magnifying of his power was God's gieat design, Exod. ix. 16.
In vei^ deed^ for this cause have I raised thee np, to show
in thee my power., and that wy name may he declared through'
out the earth.

Fourthly, In the prevalency which an firgument that is pressed

from

And M the Power of his MighU 34

irom Ills Almighty power hath with God. It was the last string
Moses had to his bow, when he begged the life of Israel, Num.
xlv. 16. TJie 7iations which have heard the fame of thee ^ will
speak, sai/ingy Became the Lord was not able, S(c, and ver. 17 •
JLet the power of my Lord he great ,• and with this he hath their
pardon thrown him.

The application of this point will fall under the next, which is^

CHAP. IV.

Of acting our Faith on the Almighttf Power of God, as engaged

for mir help.

JDoct, npHAT it is the saints duty, and should be their care, not
* only to believe God Almighty ; but also strongly to be-
lieve that this almighty power of God is theirs (that is engaged
to their defence and help) so as to make use of it in all straits and
temptations.

SECT. I. First, I shall prove that the almighty power of
God is engaged for the Christian's defence ; with the grounds
of it.

Secondly, Why the Christian should strongly act his faith on
this.

First, The almighty power of God is engaged for the saints de-
fence ; God brought Israel out of Egypt with an high hand :
but did he set them down on the other side the Red Sea, to
find and force their way to Canaan, by their own policy or
power ? When he had opened the iron gate of their house of
bondage, and brought them into the open fields, did he vanish as
the angel from Peter, when out of prison ? JVo : as a man car-
ries his son, so the Lord bare them in all the way they ts'ent,
Dent. i. 31. This doth lively set forth the saints march to hea-
ven : God brings a soul out of spiritual Egypt by his converting
grace ; that is, the day of his power, wherein he makes the soul
willing to come out of satan's clutches. Now when the saint is
upon his march, all the country risethupon him. Howsliall this
poor creature pass the pikes, and get safely by all his enemies
borders ? God himself infolds him in the arm of his everlasting
strength. We are kept hy the power of God t hr mi gh faith unto
salvation, 1 Pet i. 5. The power of God is that shoulder on
which Christ carries his sheep home, rejoicing all the way he
goes, Xiuke xv. 15. These everlasting arms of his strength are
tliose eagle's wings, upon which the saints are both tenderly and
securely conveyed to glory, Exod. xix. 4. There is a five-fold
tie or engagement that lies upon Gpd's power, to be the saints life-
guard.

B 4 First,

2C And in the Power of his Might,

First, The near relation he hath to his saints; they are his
own d'ear children ; every one takes care of his own ; the silly
hen, how doth she bustle and bestir herself to gather her brood
under her wing when the kite appears ? No care like that which
nature teacheth. How much more will God, who is father of
such dispositions in his creature, stir up his whole strength to
defend his children ? He said^ Thei/ are mif people, so he he-
, came their Saviour, Isa. xxxiii. 8. As if God had said. Shall
I sit still with my hand in my bosom, while my own people are
thus misused before my face ? I cannot bear it. The mother,
as she sits in her house, hears one shriek, and knows the voice,
cries out, O his ray child, away she throws all, and runs to him.
Thus God takes the alarm of hischildrens cr}'^, I heard Ephraim
hemoaning himself, saith the Lord ; his crj^ pierced his ear, and
hfs ear affected his bowels, and his bowels called up his power to
the rescue of him.

Secondly, The dear love he beareth to his saints engageth his
power. He that hath God's heart, cannot want his arm. —
XiOve in the creature commands all the other affections, sets alt
the powers of the whole man on work ; thus in God, love sets,
all his other attributes on work ; when God once pitched his
thoughts on doing good to lost man, then wisdom fell on project-
ing the way ; Almighty power then undertook to *'aise the fabric
according to wisdom's model. All are ready to effect what God
saith he likes. Now the believing soul is an object of God's
choicest love, even the same with which he loves his Son, John
xvii. .26.

First, God loves the believer as the birth of his everlasting
counsel ; when a soul believes, then God's eternal purjwse and
counsel concerning him Cwhom he chose in Christ before the
foundation of the world, and with whom his thoughts went so long
big) brings forth. And how must God needs love that creature,
whom he carried so long in the womb of his eternal purpose ?
This goodly fabric of heaven and earth hath not been built, but
as a stage whereon he would in time act what he decreed in hea-
ven of old, concerning the saving of thee, and a few more his
elect ; and therefore, according to the same rate of delight, with
which God pleased and entertained himself in the thoughts of this
before the world was, must he needs rejoice over the soul now
believing, with love and complacency inconceivable ; and God
having brought his counsel thus far towards its issue, surely will
raise all the power he hath, rather than be disappointed of his
glory, within a few steps of home ; I mean, his whole design in
the believer's salvation : the Lord who hath chosen his saints (as
Christ prays for Joshua their representative) will rebuke satan
, and all their enemies, Zech. iii. ^

Secondly^

And in the Power of his Might, 27

Secondly, God loves his saints as the purchase of his Son's
blood ; they cost him dear ; and that which is so hardly got,
shall not be easily lost. He that was willing to expend his son's
blood to gain them, will not deny his power to keep them.

Thirdly, God loves the saints for their likeness to himself, so
that if he loves himself, he cannot but love himself appearing in
them ; and as he loves himself in them, so he defends himself in
defending them. What is it in a saint that enrageth hell, but the
image of God, without which the war would soon be at an end ?
It is the hatred the panther hath to man that makes him fly at his
picture ; for thy sake are we slain all the day long : And if the
quarrel be God's, surely the saint shall not go forth to war at hi&
own cost.

Thirdly, The covenant engageth God's almighty power. Gen.
xvii. 1. / am the Almighty God, walk before we. There is a
league offensive and defensive between God and his saints : he
gives it under his hand, that he will put forth the whole power
of his Godhead for them, 1 Chron. xvii. 24. The Lord of hosts
is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel, God doth not parcel
himself out by retail, but gives his saints leave to challenge
whatever a God hath as theirs ; and let him, whoever he is, sit in
God's throne, and take away his crown, that can fasten any un-
truth on the Holy One ; as his name is, so his nature, a God
keeping covenant for ever. The promises stand as the mountains
about Jerusalem, never to be removed ; the w eak as well as the
strong Christian is within the line of communication. Were
saints to fight out in open field by the strength of their owe grace,
then the strong were more likely to stand, and the weak to fall
in battle ; but both, castled in the covenant, are alike safe.

Fourthly, The saints dependence on God, and expectation
from God, in all their straits, oblige this power for their succour :
Whither doth a gracious soul fly in any want or danger from sin,
Satan, or his instruments, but to his God ? As naturally as the
coney to her burrow, Psal. Ivii. 3. At what time I am afraid,
saith David, I will trust in thee : He tells God he will make
bold with his house to step ijito, when taken in any storm ; and
doth not question his welcome. Thus when Saul hunted him, he
left a city of gates and bars, to trust God in open field. Indeed
all the saints are taught the same lesson, to renounce their own
strength, and rely on the power of God ; their own policy, and
cast themselves on the wisdom of God ; their own righteousness,
and expect all from the pure mercy of God in Christ ; which act
of faith is so pleasing to God, that such a soul shall never be
ashamed, Psal. ix. 18. The expect ation of the poor shall not pe-
rish, A heathen could say, when a bird (scared by a hawk)
flew into his bosom, I will not betray thee unto thy enemy, seeing

thou

28 And in the Power of his Might »

thou comest for sanctuary unto ine. How much less will God
yield up a soul unto its enemy, when it takes sanctuary in his
name, saying, Lord, I am hunted with such a temptation, dog-
ged with such a lust ; either thou must pardon it, or I am damned ;
mortify it, or I shall be a slave to it ; take me into the bosom of
thy love for Christ's sake ; castle me in the arms of thy everlast-
ing strength ; it is in thy power to save me from, or give me up
into the hands of my enemy ; I have no confidence in myself or
any other : into thy hands I commit my cause, myself, and rely
on thee : This dependence of a soul undoubtedly will awaken the
almighty power of God for such a one's defence. He hath sworn
the greatest oath that can come out of his blessed lips, even by
himself, that such as thus fly for refuge to hope in him, shall have
strong consolation* Heb. vi. 17. This indeed may give the saint
the greater boldness of faith to expect kind entertainment, when
he repairs to God for refuge, because he cannot come before he
is looked for : God having set up his name and promises as a
strong tower, both calls his people into these chambers, and ex-
pects they should betake themselves thither.

Fifthly, Christ's presence and employment in heaven lays a
strong engagement on God to bring his whole force and power in-
to the field, upon all occasions, for his saints defence ; one spe-
cial end of his journey to heaven, and abode there, is, that he
might, (as the saints solicitor) be ever interceding for such, sup-
plies and succours of his Father, as their exigencies call for ; and
the more to assure us of the same before he went, he did (as it
were) tell us, what heads he meant to go upon in his intercession,
when he siiould come there : one of which was this, that his Fa-
ther should keep his children, while they were to stay in the
world, from the evil thereof, John xvii. 15. Neither doth
Christ take upon him this work of his own head, but hath the
same appointment of his Father, for what he now prays in hea-
ven, as he had for what he suflfered on earth : He that ordained
him a priest to die for sinners, did not then strip him of his priest-
ly garments (as Aaron), but appoints him to ascend in them to
heaven, where he sits a priest for ever by God's oath. And this
office of intercession was erected purely in mercy to believers,
that they might have full content given them for the performance
of all that God hath promised ; so that Jesus Christ lieslieger at
court as our ambassador, to see all carried fairly between God
and us according to agreement : And if Christ follows his busi-
jiess close, and be faithful in his place to believers, all is well :
And doth it not behove him to be so, who intercedes for such dear
relations ? Suppose a King's son should get out of a besieged
city, where he had left his wife and children (whom he loves as
his own soul), and these all ready to die by sword or famine, if

eupply

Ajid in the Power of kta Mighi* 20

snpply come not tlie sooner ; could tbis prince, vvlicn arrived at
his fathei''s house, please himself with the deh'ghts of the court, and
forget the distress of his family ? Or rather, would lie not come
post to his father (having their cries and groans always in lus
ears), and, before he ate or drank, do his errand to his father, and
intreat him, if ever he loved him, that lie would send all the
force of his kingdom to raise the siege, rather than any of his dear
relations should perish ? Surely, theu, though Chiist be at the
top of his preferment, and out of the stonn in i^egard of his own
person, yet his children, left behind in the midst of sins, satan,
and the world^s batteries, are in his heart, and shall not be for-
gotten a moment by him. The care he takes in our business ap-
peared in the speedy dispatch he made of his spirit to his apostle«
supply, when he ascended ; which, as soon almost as he was warm
in his seat at his Father's right hand, he sent, to the incom]>arable
comfort of his apostles and us, that to this day, yea, to the end
of the woi'ld do, or shall believe on him.

SECT. II. — The second branch of the point follows : That
saints should eye this power of God as engaged for them ; and
press it home upon their souls, till they silence all doubts and
iears about the matter ; which is the importance of this exhorta-
tion : Be strong in the Ij)rd, and in the power of his might

Fortify and entrench your souls within th3 breast-work of this
attribute of God's mighty power made over to you by God him-
self.

First, It is the end of jdl promises to be security to our faith ;
so of those in particular, whei^e his Almighty power is expressly
engaged, that we may count this attribute our portion, and reap
the comfort it yields, as freely as one may the crop of his own
field. Walk before me^ saith God to Abraham, i am God Al-
mighty ; rest on this as thy portion, and live upon it : The apos-
tle, Heb. xiii. 6. teacheth us what use to make of promises, ver.
5. I will never leave thee^ nor forsake thee^ there is the promise ;
and the inference, which he teacheth us to di-aw by faith from
this, follows, ver. 6. So we may boldly say^ The Lord is my
helper. We, that is, every believer, may boldly say, that is, we
may conclude, God will help ; not sneakingly, timorously ; per-
haps he will ; but we may boldly assert it in the face of men and de-
vils, because he that is almighty hath said it. Now tor a Chris-
tian not to strengthen his faith on this incomparable sweet attri-
bute, but to sit down with a few wfeak unsettled hopes, when he
may, yea, ought to be strong in the faith of such promises; what
is it but to undervalue the blessing of such promises ? As if one
should promise another house and land, and bid him take them as
sure to himself as the law can bind, and he should take no care to
effect this, would it not be interpreted as a slighting of his fnend's

kindness ?

30 And in the Power of his Might.

kindness ? Is it a small matter, that God passeth over his al-
mighty power by promise to us, and bids us make it as sure to
ourselves as we can by faith, and we neglect this, leaving the
writings of the promises unsealed in our hearts ?

Secondly, Our obedience and comfort are strong or weak, as
our faith is on this principle.

First, Our obedience, that, being a child of faith, partakes of
its parent's strength or weakness ; Abraham being strong in faith,
what an heroic act of obedience did he perform in offering up his
son ? His faith being well set on the power of God, he carries
that without staggering, which would have laid a weak faith on
the ground. No act of faith more strengthens for duty, than that
which eyes God's almighty power engaged for its assistance. —
Go in this thy mighty said God to Gideon, hai^e not I called
thee 9 as if he had said. Can I not, will I not carry thee through
thy work ? Away goes Gideon in the faith of this, and doth
wonders. This brought the righteous man from the east of
God's foot, tliough he knew not whither he went, yet he knew
with whom he went, God Almighty. But take a soul not per-
suaded of this, how uneven and unstable is he in his obediential
course ? Every threat from man, if mighty, dismays him, be-
cause his failh is not fixed on the Almighty, and therefore sorae-
tinles he will shift off a duty to comply with man, and betray his
trust into the hands of a sorry creature, because he hath fleshly
eyes to behold the power of man, but wants a spiritual eye to see
God at his back, to protect him with his almighty power; which,
were his eyes open to see, he would not be so routed in his
thoughts at the approach of a weak creature : - Should such a
man as IJlee9 saith good Nehemiah, Neh. vi. 11. He was
newly come from the throne of grace, where he had called in the
help of the Almighty, v. 9. O God^ strengthen my hands. And
truly now he will rather die upon the place, than disparage his
God, with a dishonourable retreat.

Secondly, The Christian's comfort increaseth or waneth, as the
aspect of his faith is to the power of God. Ijct the soul question
that, or his interest in it, and his joy gusheth ont, even as blood
out of a broken vein ; it is true, a soul may scramble to heaven
with much ado, by a faith of recumbency, relying on God as able
to save, without this persuasion of its interest in God : but such
a soul goes with a scant side-wind, or like a ship whose masts are
laid by the board, exposed to wind and weather, if others better
appointed 13id not tow it along with them. Many fears, like
waves, ever and anon cover such a soul, that it is more under
water than above ; whereas one that sees itself folded in the arras
of Almighty power, O how such a soul goes mounting afore the
wind, with her sails filled with joy and peace I Let afflictions

come,

And m the Power of his Might. 31

COtne, storms arise, this blessed soul knows where It shall land
and be welcome. The name of God is his harbour, where he
puts in as boldly as a man steps into his own house, when taken
in a shower. He hears God calhng him into this and other his
attributes, as chambers taken up for him, Isa. xxvi. Come^ rny
people, enter into thy chambers, God calls them his, and it were
foolish modesty not to own what God gives, Isa. xlv. 24. Surely

shall a man say ^ in the Lord have I righteousness and strength
that is, I have righteousness in God's righteousness, strength in his
strength, so that in this respect Christ can no more say that his
strength is his own, and not the believer's, than the husband can
say, my body is my own, and not my wife's. A soul persuaded
of this, may sing merrily with the sharpest thorn at his breast ;
so David, Psal. Ivii. 7. My heart is fixed ^ my heart is fixed ^ I
will sing and give praise. What makes him so merry in so sad
a place as the cave where he now was ? He will tell you in ver. 1 .
tvhere you have him nestling himself under the shadow of God's
wings, and now well may he sing care and fear away. A soul
thus provided, may lie at eavse on a hard bed. Do you not think
they sleep as soundly who dwell on London-bridge, as they who
live at Whitehall or Cheapside, knowing the waves that roar un-'
der them cannot hurt them ? Even so may the saints rest quietly
over the floods of death itself, and fear no ill.

SECT. III. Is the Almighty Power of God engaged for the
saints defence ? Surely then they will have a hard pull (the saints
enemies I mean) who meddle with them who are so far above
their match. The devil was so cunning, that he would have Job '
out of his trench, his hedge down, before he would fall on ; but
so desperate are men, they will try the field with the saints,
though encircled with the almighty power of God. What folly
were it to attempt, or sit down before such a city, which cannot
be blocked up so as no relief can get in ? The way to heaven
cannot, In the church's straitest siege, there is a river which
shall make glad this city of God, with seasoqable succours from
heaven. The saints fresh springs are all from God : and it is as
feasible for sorry man to stop the water courses of the clouds, as
to dam up those streams, which invincibly glide like veins of
water in the earth, from the fountain-head of his mercy, iqto the
bosom of his people : The Egyptians thought they had Israel in
a trap, when they saw them march into a nook by the sea-side ;
They are entangled, they are entangled : and truly so they had
been, irrecoverably, had not that almighty power which led them
on, engaged to bring them off with honour and safety j well, when
they are out of this danger, behold, they are in a wilderness,
where nothing is to be had for back or belly, and yet here they
shall live for forty years, without trade or tillage, without beg-
ging

32 Ariii in the Power of Ms Might.

g'mg or robbing of any of the neighbour-nations ; they shall not
be beholden to them for a penny on their way. What can-
not Almighty power do to provide for his people ? What can it
not do to protect them against the power and wratli of their ene-
mies ? Almighty power stood between the Israelites and Egyp-
tians ; so that (poor creatures) they could not so much as come
to see their enemy : God sets up a dark cloud as a blind before
their eyes ; and all the while, his eye through the cloud is look-
ing them into disorder and confusion. And is the Almighty
grown weaker now-a-days, or his enemies stronger, that they
promise themselves better success ? No, neither : but men are
blinder than the saints enemies of old, who sometimes have fled
at the appearance of God among his people, crying out, Xict us
ilee, for the Lord fighteth for them. Whereas there be many now-
a-days, will rather give the honour of their discomfiture to sat an
himself, than acknowledge God in the business ; more ready to^
say, the devil fought against them than God. O you that have
not yet worn off the impressions which the Almighty power of
God hath at any time made upon your spirits, beware of having
any thing to do with this generation of men, whoever they are.
Come not near their tabernacle, cast not thy lot in amongst them,
who are enemies to the saints of the Most High ; for they are
men devoted to destruction. God so loves his saints that he
makes nothing to give the whole nations for their ransom. He
ripped open the very womb of Egypt, to save the life of Israel
his child, Isa. xliii. 3.

Use 2. Secondly, This shews the dismal deplorable condition
of all you, who are yet in a christless state ; you have seen a rich
mine opened, but not a penny of this treasure comes to your
share ; truth laden with incomparable comfort, but it is bound
for another coast ; it belongs to the saints, into whose bosom this
truth unlades all her comfort. See God shutting the door upon
you, when he sets his children to feast themselves with such
dainties, Isa. xlv. 13. Mt/ servants shall eat^ but ye shall he
hungry ; my servants shall drink, hut ye shall be thirsty, God
hath his set number, which he provides for ; he knows how many
he hath in his family ; these and no more shall sit down. One
chief dish at the saint's board is the almighty power of God ; this
was set before Abraham, and stands before all his saints, that they
may eat to fullness of comfort on it : But thou shall he hungfy.
He is almighty to pardon ; but he will not use it for thee, an im-
penitent sinner ; thou hast not a friend on the bench ; not an at-
tribute in all God's name will speak for thee : Mercy itself will
sit and vote with the rest of his fellow-attributes for tliy damna-
tion. God is able to save and help in a time of need ; but upon
what acquaintance is it that tl^ou ait so bold with God, as to ex-
pect

Attd in the Power of 1m Might* 35

pect his saving arm to be stretched forth for thee ? Though a
man will rise at midnight to let in a child that cries and knocks
at his door, yet he will not take so much pains for a dog that lies
howling thei-e. This presents thy condition, sinner, sad enough,
yet this is to tell thy story fairest ; for that almighty power of
God which is engaged for the believer's salvation, is as deeply
obliged to bring thee to thy execution and damnation. What
greater tie than aa oath ? God himself is under an oath to be
the destruction of every impenitent soul. That oath which God
sware in his wrath against the unbelieving Israelites, that they
should not enter into his rest, concerns every unbeliever to the
end of the \^brld. In the name of God, consider, were it but the
oath of a man, or a company of men, that, like those in the Acts,
should swear to be the death of such an one, and thou wert the
man, would it not fill thee with fear and trembling night and day,
and take away the quiet of thy life, till they were made friends ?
What then are their pillows stuffed with who can sleep so soundly,
ivithout any horror or amazement, though they be told, that the
Almighty God is under an oath of damning them, body and soul,
without timely repentance ? O bethink yourselves, sinners, is it
wisdom or valour to refuse tenus of mercy from God's hands,
whose almighty power, if rejected, will soon bring you into the
hands of justice? And how fearful a thing it is to fall into the
hands of Almighty God, no tongue can express ; no, not they
who feel the weight of it.

Use 3. Thirdly, This speaks to you that are saints indeed, be
strong in the faith of this truth, make it an article of your creed ;
with the same faith that you believe there is a God, believe also
this God's almighty power is thy sure friend, and then improve
it to thy best advantage. As,

First, In agonies of conscience that arise from the greatness of
thy sins, fly for refuge unto the almighty power of God. Trulj^,
when a man's sins are displayed in all their bloody colours,
and spread forth in their killing aggravations, and the eye of con-
science awakened to behold them through the multiplying or
magnifying glass of a temptation, they must needs surprise the
creature with horror and amazement, till the soul can say with
the prophet, for all this huge host, There is ;yet more tvith me
than against me. One Almighty is more than many mighties.
All these mighty sins and devils, make not an almighty sin or
an almighty devil. Oppose to all the hideous charges brought
against thee by them, this only attribute. As the French am-
bassador once silenced the Spaniard's pt ide in repeating his mas-
ter's many titles, with one that drowned them all. God himself,
(^Hos. xi. J).) when he had aggravated his people's sins to the

height,

34 And in the Power of his Might,

height, then, to shew what a God can do, breaks out into a sweet
promise : I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger : and
why not ? 1 am God, and not man. I will shew the almigh-
tiness of my mercy. Something like our usual phrase, when
a child or woman strikes us : I am a man, and not a child, or
woman ; therefore I will not strike again. The very considering
God to be God, supposeth him to be almighty to pardon, as well
as to avenge, and this is some relief: but then to consider it is
almighty power in bond and covenant to pardon, this is more. —
As none can bind God but himself, so none can break the bond
himself makes ; and are they not his own words, that he will
abundantly/ pardon? Isa. Ivi. He will multiply to pardon, as if
he had said, I will drop mercy with your sin, and spend all I
have, rather than let it be said my good is overcome of your evil.
It fares with the gracious soul in this case, as with a captain that
yields his castle upon gracious terms of having his life spared,
and he safely conveyed to his house, there to be settled peaceably
in his estate and possession, for all which he hath the generaFs
hand and seal, on which he marched forth ; but the rude sol-
diers assault him, and put him in fear of his life, he appeals to
the general (whose honour now is engaged for him), and is pre-
sently relieved, and his enemies punished. Thou may est, poor
soul, when accused by satan, molested by his terrors, say. It is
God that justifies ; I have his hand to it, that I should have my
life given me as soon as I laid down my arms and submitted to
him, which I desire to do ; behold, the gates of my heart are open
to let the Prince of Peace in : And is not the Almighty able to
perform his promise ? I commit myself to him as unto a faithful
Creator.

Secondly, Improve this Almighty Power of God, and thy in- .
terest therein, in temptations to sin ; when thou art overpowered,
and fleest before the face of thy strong corruption, or fearest thou
shalt one day fall by it, make bold to take hold of this attribute,
and reinforce thyself from it again to resist, and, in resisting, to
believe a timely victory over it. The Almighty God stands in
sight of thee while thou art in the valley fighting, and stays but
for a call from thee when distressed in battle, and then he will
come to thy rescue: Jehoshaphat cried, when in the throng of
Jiis enemies, and the Lord helped him ; much more mayest thou
promise thyself his succour in thy soul-combats : Betake thyself
to the throne of grace with that promise, Sin shall not have do-
minion over you : aud before thou urgest it, (the more to help
thy faith,) comfort thyself with this, that though this word Al-
mighty is not expressed, yet it is implied in this aud every pro-
mise ; and thou mayest, without adding a tittle to the word of
God, read it in thy soul : sin shall not^ have dominion over you,
- ' saith

And in the Power of his Might, 35

Baith the Almighty God ; for this and all his attributes are the
constant seal to all his promises. Now soul, put the bond in
suit, fear not the recovery ; *tis debt, and so due : He is able
whom thou suest, and so there is no fear of losing the charge of
the suit ; and he that was so gracious to bind himself when he
was free, will be so faithful (being able) to perform now he is
bound ; only while thou expectest the performance of the pro-
mise, and the assistance of this Almighty Power against thy cor-
ruptions, take heed that thou keep under the shadow of this attri-
bute, and condition of this promise, Psal, xci. 1 . The shadow
will not cool except in it ; what good to have the shadow,
though of a mighty rock, when we sit in the open sun ? To have
Almighty Power engaged for us, and we to throw ourselves out
of the protection thereof by bold sallies into the mouth of tempta-
tion ? The saints falls have been, when they run out of their
trench and hold : for, like the conies, they are a weak people in
themselves, and their strength lies in the rock of God's ahnighti^
ness, which is their habitation.

Thirdly, Christian, improve this, when oppressed with the
weight of any duty and service, which in thy place and calling
lies upon thee. Perhaps thou findest the duty of thy calling
too heavy for thy weak shoulders; make bold by faith to lay the
heaviest end of thy burden on God*s shoulder, which is thine (if
a believer) as sure as God can make it by promise. When at
any time thou art sick of thy work, and ready to think with Jo-
nas to run from it ; encourage thyself with that of God to Gide-
on, whom he called from the flail to thresh the mountains. Go
in this thy might ; hath not God called thee ? Fall to the work

God sets thee about, and thou engagest his strength for thee

The way of the Loid is strength. Run from thy work, and thou
engagest God's strength against thee, he will send some storm or
other after thee to bring home his runaway servant. How oft
hath the coward been killed in a ditch, or under some hedge,
when the valiant soldier that stood his ground and kept his place,
got off with safety and honour ? Art thou called to sufl^er ? Flinch
not because thou art afraid thou shalt never be able to bear the
cross : God can lay it so even, that thou shalt not feel it ; though
thou shouldst find no succour till thou coraest to the prison door,
yea, till thou hast one foot on the ladder, or thy neck on the
block, despair not. In the mount will the Lord be seen. And
in that hour he can give thee such a look of his sweet face, as
shall make the blood come in the ghastly face of a cruel death,
and appear lovely in thy eye for his sake. He can give thee so
much comfort in hand, as thou shalt acknowledge God is afore-
hand with thee, for all the shame and pain thou canst endure for
him : And if it should not amount to this, yet so much as will

c ' bear

^ jdnd in the Power of his Might,

bear all thy charges thou canst be put to in the way, lies ready
told in that promise, 1 Cor. x. 13. Thou shalt have it at sight,
and this may satisfy a Christian, especially if he considers,
though he doth not carry so much of heaven's joy about him to
heaven as others j yet he shall meet it as soon as he comes to his
Father's house, \vl>ereit is reserved for him. In a word. Chris-
tian, rely upon thy God, and make thy daily applications to the
throne of grace, for continual supplies of strength ; you little
think how kindly he takes it, that you will make use of him, the
oftener the bettei-, and the more you come for, the more welcome ;
else why would Christ have told his disciples, hitherto ye have
hsked nothings but to express his large heart in giving, loth to
put his hand to his purse for a little, and therefore by a familiar
kind of rhetorick puts them to rise higher in asking, as Naaman
ivhen Gehazi asked one talent, entreats him to take two : such
a bountiful heart thy God hath, while thou art asking a Uttle
peace and joy, he bids thee open thy mouth wide, and he will
lill it. Go and ransack thy heart. Christian, from one end io
the other, find out thy wants, acquaint thyself with all thy
weaknesses, and set them before the Almighty as the widow her
empty vessd before the prophet : hadst tliou more than thou canst
bring, thou mayest have them all filled. God hath strength
enough to give, but he hath no strength to deny : here the Al-
mighty himself (with reverence be it spoken) is weak ; even a
child, the weakest in grace of his family, that can but say. Fa-
ther, is able to overcome him j aud therefore let not the weak-
ness of thy faith discourage th^e. No greater motive to the
bowels of mercy to stir up almighty power to relieve thee, than
thy weakness, when pleaded in the sense of it. The pale face
and thin cheeks (I hope) move more with us, than the canting
language of a stout sturdy beggar. Thus that soul that comes la-
den in the sense of his weak faith, love, or patience, the very
weakness of them carries an argument along with them for suc-
cour.

CHAP. V.

Wherein is answered a grand Objection^ that some disconsolate
Souls 7nai) raise agaififit the former Discourse.

Object, #^A But, saith some disconsolate Christian, I have pray-
^"^ ed again and again for strength against such a cor-
ruption, and to this day ray hands are weak, and these sons of
Zeruiah are so strong, that I am ready to say, All the preach-
ers*

And in llhe Poiver of his Might, 37

ers do but flatter nie, that do pour their oil of comfort upon my
head, and tell me I shall at last get the conquest of these mine
enemies, and sec that joyful day wherein with David I shall sing
to the Lrj/'dj for deliver ifig me out of the hands of all mine ene-*
mi'es. I have prayed for strength for such a duty, and find it
come off as weakly and deadheartedly as before. ]f God be with
me, by his mighty power to help me, why then is all this befal-
len me ?

Answer 1. First, Look once again, poor heart, into thine
own bosom, and see whether thou findest not some strength sent
into thee, which thou didst overlook before ; this may be, yea,
very ordinary in this case, when God answers our prayer not ia
the letter, or when the thing itself is sent, but it comes in at the
back door, while we are expecting it at the fore ; and truly thus
the friend thou art looking for may be in thine house, and thou
not know it. Js not this thy case, poor soul ? Thou hast been
praying for strength against such a lust, and now thou wouldst
have God presently put forth his power to knock it on the head,
and lay it for dead, that it should never stir more in thy bosom :
Is not this the door thou hast stood looking for God to come in
at, and no sight or news of thy God is coming that way ? Thy
corruption yet stirs, it may be, is more troublesome than before ;
now thou askest, where is the strength promised to thy relief?
Let me entreat thee, before thou layest down that sad conclusion
against thy God or self, see whether he hath not conveyed in
some strength by another door: Perhaps thou hast not strength
to conquer it so soon as thou desirest, but hath he not given fur-
ther praying strength against it ? Thou prayedst before, but now
more earnestly ; all the powers of thy soul are up to plead with
God. Before thou wast more favourable and moderate in thy
request, now thou hast a zeal, thou canst take no denial ; yea,
welcome any thing in the room of thy corruption : Would God
but take thy sin and send a cross, thou wouldst bless him : Now,
poor soul, is this nothing, no strength ? Had not thy God reiu-
forced thee, thy sin would have weakened the spirit of thy pray-
er, and not encreased it ; David began to recover himself, when
he began to recover his spirit of prayer. The stronger the cry,
the stronger the child, J warrant you. Jacob. wrestled, and this
is called his strength, Hos. xii. It appeared, there was much of
God in him, that he could take such hold of the Almighty, as to
keep it, though God seemed to shake him off: If thus thou art
enabled, soul, to deal with the God of heaven, no fear but thou
slialt be much more able to deal with sin and satan. If God hath
given thee so much strength, to wrestle with him above and
against denials, thou hast prevailed with the stronger of the
two : 'Overcome God, and he will overcome the other for thee. —

C 2 Again,

58 And til the Potter of his Mig ht.

Again, perhaps, thou hast been praying for further strength tf>
be communicated to thee in duty, that thou mightest be more spi-
ntaal, vigorous, united, sincere, and the like therein, and yet
thou iindest thy old distempers hanging about thee, as if thou
hadst never acquainted God with thy ail: Well, soul, look once
again into thy bosom with an urprejudiced eye, though thou dost
not find the assisting strength thou prayest for, yet hast thou no
more self-abasing strength ? Perhaps the annoyance thou hast
from these remaining distempers in duty, occasion thee to have a
meaner opinion of all thy duties than ever, yea, they make thee
abhor thyself in the sense of these, as if thou hadst so many loath-
some vermin about thee. Job's condition on the dunghill, with
all his blotches and running sores on his body, appears desirable
to thee in comparison of thine, whose soul thou coinplainest is
worse than his bod}^ O this afflicts thy soul deeplvf doth it
not ? That thou shouldst appear before the Lord with such a
dead, divided heart, and do his work worst, that deserves best at
thy hands^ and is all this nothing ? Surelj^, Christian^ thine eyes
are held as much as Hagar's, or else thou wouldst see the stream-
ings forth of divine grace in this frame of thy heart ; surely others
will think God hath done a mighty work in their soul ; what har-
der and more against the hair, than to bring our proud hearts to
take shame for that, whereof they naturally boast and glory ? And
is it nothing for thee to tread on the very neck of thy duties, and
count them matter of thy humiliation and abasing, which others
make the matter of their confidence and self-rejoicing ? Good
store of virtue hath gone fnom Christ, to dry this issue of pride in
thy heart, which sometimes in gracious ones runs through and
through their duties, so that it is seen, may be, by those that have
less grace than themselves.

Second, Christian, candidly interpret God's dealings with thee.
Suppose it l>e as thou sayest, thou hast pleaded the promise, and
waited on the means, and yet findest no strength from all these
receipts, either in thy grace or comfort, now take heed of charg-
ing God foolishly, as if God were not what he promised : this
were to give that to satan, which he is all this while gaping for.
It is more beccwning the dutiful disposition of a chiki, when he
hath not presently what he writes for to his father, to say. My
father is wiser than I, his wisdom will prompt him what and
when to send to me; and his fatherly affections to me his chil^
will neither suiFer him to deny any thing that is good, or slip the
time that is seasonable. Christian, thy Heavenly Father hath
gi-acious ends that hold his hands at present, or else thou hadst
e'er this heard from him.

First, God may deny further degrees of strength, to put thee
on the exercise of tliat tUou hast more carefully. As a motlier

doth

And in the Power of his Might. 39

^^otli by her child, that is learning to go, she sets it down, and
stands some distance from it, and bids it come to her ; the child
feels its legs weak, and cries for the mother's help, but the mo-
ther steps back, on purpose that the child should put forth all
its little strength in coming after her. When a poor soul comes
and prays against such a sin, God .seems to step back and stand
at a distance ; the temptation incieaseth, and no visible succour
appears, on purpose that the Christian, though weak, should
exercise that strength he hath. Indeed we shall find the sense of
» soul's weakness is an especial means to excite it unto a further
care and diligence : one that knows his weakness, how prone he
is in company to forget himself, in passion 1k)w apt Ls he to fly
out, if there be a principle of true grace, this will excite him to
be more fearful and watchful, than another that hath obtained
greater strength against siich temptations. As a child that writes
for money to his father, none comes presently, that makes him
husband that little he hath tlie better, not a penny now shall be
laid out idly ; thus when a Christian hath prayed against such a
sin again and again, and yet finds himself weak, prone to be
worsted : O how careful will this, should this make such a one
of every company, of every occasion ? Such a one had not need
give his enemy any advantage.

Second, God may deny the Christian such assisting strength
in duty, or mortifying strength of corruption, as \\q desires, purely
on a gracious design, that he may thereby have an advantage of
expressing his love in such a way as shall most kindly work on
the ingenuity of the soul to love God again. Perhaps, Christian,
thou prayest for a merdy thou wantest, or for deliverfince out of
some great affliction, and in the duty thou fipdest pot more assis^
tance than ordinary, yea, many distra^^tions of spirit in it, and
misgiving thoughts with unbelieving fears after it : Well, not-
withstanding those defects in thy duty, yet God hears thy prayer,
and sends in the mercy, on purpose that he may greateu his love
ill thine eye, and make it more luscious and sweet to thy taste,
from his accepting thy weak services, and passing by the dis^
tempers of thy spirit- Here is less strength for the duty, that
thou mayest have more love in the mercy : nothing will affect a
gracious heart more than such a consideration. See it in David,
Psal. cxvi. 1 1, 12, / said in my hfiste^ all men nre liars. What
shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toivards me ? As
it' David had said, notwithstanding ail the comfortable messages
I had fi om God by his Prophets concerning this matter, my own
piayers, and those remarkable providences, which carried in
them a partial answer to them, and performance of what wiis
promised, yet I betrayed much unbelief, questioning the truth of
^he one, and the return of the other; and hath God, notwirhr

P 3 standing

40 And in the Power of his Might,

standing all inv infirmities, fulfilled my desire and performed his
promise ? O what shall I render unto the Lord ? Thus David
reads God's mercy through the spectacles of his own weakness
and infirmity, and it appears great ; whereas if a mercy should
come in, as an answer to a duty managed with such strength of
faith, and height of other graces, as might free him and his duty
from usual infirmities, this might prove a snare, and occasion
some self-applaudiug, rather than mercy-admiring thoughts in thei
creature.

Third, God may communicate the less of his assisting strength,
that he may shew the more of his supporting strength, in up-
Lolding weak grace : We do not wonder to see a man of strong
constitution, that eats his bread heartily ai^d sleeps soundly,
live : But for a crazy body, full of ails and infirmities, to be so
patched and shored up by the physician's art, that he stands to
old. age, this begets some wojider in the beholders. It may be thou
art a poor trembling soul, thy faith is weak, and thy assaults
from satan strong, thy coi"i:U})tions stirring and active, and thy
mortifying strength little, so that in thy opinion they r;Ulicr gain
ground on thy grace, than give ground to it, ever and anon thou
art ready to think thou shalt be cast as a wreck on the devil's
shore : And yet to this day thy grace lives^, though full of leaks ;
now is it not worth the stepping aside to see this strange sight ?
A broken ship wdth masts and hull rent and torn, thus towed
along by Almighty Power, through an a4igiy sea, and armadoes
of sins and devils, safely into his harbour I To see a poor dllling
or rush candle in the face of the boisterous wind, and not blown
out I in a word, to see a weak stripling in grace held up in God's
^rms till he beats the devil craven ! This God is doing in up-
holding thee : Thou art one of those babes, out of whose mouth
God is perfecting his praise, by ordaining such strength for thee,
that thou a babe in grace shalt yet foil a giant in wrath and
pqwer^

Third, If after long waiting for strength from God, it be as
thou cqmplainest, encjuire whether that which hinders be not
found in thyself. The head is the seat of animal spirits, yet
there may be such obstructions in the body, that the other members
fliay for a time be deprived of them; till the passage be free be-
tween Christ thy head and thee, thy strength will uot come, and
therefore be willing to enquire :

First, Hast thou come indeed to God for strength to perform
duty, to mortify corruption, ai^d the like ? Perhaps thou wilt say.
Yes, I have waited on those ordinances, which are the way in
which he hath promised to give out stroigth. Eut is this all?
Thou niayest come to them, and not wait on God in them. Kast
|hpu not carnally expected strength from them, and so put the

ordinance J

And in the Power of Ins Might, 4i

ortlinance, as she her husband, in God's stead ? Hath not the
frame of thy spirit some affinity with theirs, in James iv. 13. lit
will go into such a citi/^ and buy^ and sell^ and get gain ? Hath
not thy heart said, I will go and hear such a man, and get com-
fort, get strength ? and dost thou wonder that thou art weak,
barren, and unfruitful ? Are ordinances God, that they should
make you strong or comfortable ? Thou mayest hear them an-
swer thee, poor soul, as the king to the woman in the siege of
Samaria: Help, O prayer, say est thou; or, O ! minister. How
can tliey help, except the Lord help ? These are but Christ's
servants : Christ keeps the key of his wine cellar, they cannot
so much as make you drink, when you come to your master's
house ; and therefore, poor soul, stay not short of Christ, but
press through all the croud of ordinances, and ask to speak with
Jesus, to see Jesus, and touch him, and virtue will come forth.

Second, Ask thy soul whether thou hast been thankful for that
little strength thou hast, though thou art not of that strength in
grace to run with the foremost, and hold pace with the tallest of
thy brethren, yet art thou thankful that thou hast any strength
at all ? though it be but to cry after them, whom thou seest out-
strip thee in grace. This is worth thj'^ thanks. All in David's
army attained not to be equal with his few worthies in prowess
and honour, and yet did uot cashier themselves: Thou hast rea-
son to be thankful for the meanest place in the army of saints,
the least communications of gospel-mercy and giace must not be
overlooked. As soon as IMoses with his army was through the
sea, they strike up, before they stir from the bank side, and acr
knowledge the wonderful appearance of God's power and mercy
for them, though this was but one step in their way ; a howling
wilderness presented itself to them, aisd they not able to subsist
a few days with all their provision, for all their great victory ;
yet Moses, he will praise God for this handful of mercy. This
holy man knew the only way to keep credit \\'\i\i God, so as to
have more, w-as to keep touch, and pay down his praise for what
was received. If thou wouldst have fuller communications of
divine strength, own God in what he hath done. Art thou weak?
Bless God thou hast life. Dost thou through feebleness often
fail in duty, and fall into temptation ? Mourn in the sense of
these ; yet bless God, that thou dost not live in a total neglect of
duty, out of a prophane contempt thereof, and that instead of
falling through weakness^ thou dost not lie in the mireofsiq
rlirough the wickedness Oi^ thy lieayt. 'I'he unthankful soul may
thank itself, it thrives no better.

'J'hirdly, Art thou humble under the assistance and strength
God hath given thee ? Pride stops the conduit : if the heart be-
gins to swell, it is time for God to hold his hand, and t;o turn the

P 4 ,- cock ;

42 And in the Power of his Might.

cock ; for all that is poured on such a soul runs over into self-
applauding, and so is as water spilt, in regard of any good it doth
the creature, or any glory It brings to God. A proud heart and
a lofty mountain are never fruitful. Now beside the common
ways that pride discovers itself, as by under- valuing others, and
over-valuing itself and such like, you shall observe two other
symptoms of it. First, it appears in bold adventures, when a
person runs into the mouth of temptation, bearing himself on his
confidence of the grace received. This was Peter's sin, by which
he was drawn to engage further than became an humble faith, run-
ning into the devil's quarters, and so became his prisoner for a
while. The good man, when in his right temper, had thoughts
low enough of himself; as when he asked his master, Is it I?
But he that feared at one time, lest he might be the traitor, at ano-
ther cannot think so ill of himself, as to suspect he should be the
denier of his master. What, he ? No, tho' all the rest forsake
him, yet he would stand to his colours. Is this thy case, Chris-
tian ? Possibly God hath given thee much of his mind, thou arl
skilful in the word of life, 9,nd therefore thou darest venture to
breathe in corrupt air, as if only the weak spirits of less know-
ing Christians exposed them to be infected with the contagion of
error and heresy. Thou hast a large portion of grace, or at least
thou thinkest so, and venturest to go. where an humble-minded
Christian would fear his heels should slip from under him. Truly
now thou temptest God to suffer thy locks to be cut, w Lfen thou art
6o bold to lay thy head in the lap of temptation. Secondly, Pride
appears in the neglect of those means, whereby the saints graces
and comforts are to be fed when strongest. May be, Christian,
when thou art under fears and doubts, then God hath thy compa-
ny, thou art oft with thy pitcher at his door ; but when thou hast
got any measure of peace, there goes presently some strangeness
between God and thee: Thy pitcher walks not, as it was wont, to
these wells of salvation. No wonder if thou (tho' rich in grace
and comfort) goest behind-hand, seeing thou speudest away the
old stock, and drivest no trade at present to bring in more :
or if thou dost not thus neglect duty, yet may be thou dost not
perform it with that humility, which formerly beautified the
same : Then thou prayedst in the sense of thy weakness to get
strength, now thou prayest to shew thy strength that others may
admire thee. And if once (like Hezekiah) we call in spectators
to see our treasure, and applaud us for our gifts and comfort,
then it is high time for God, if he indeed love us, to send some
messengers to carry these away from us, which carry our hearts
from him.

Fourthly, If thy heart doth not smite thee from what hath been
gaid, hut thou hast sincerely waited on God, and hast not ye»

ceivcd

Put on the uliole Armour of God. 43

ceived the strength thou desirest, yet let it be thy resohition to
live and die waiting on him. God doth not tell us his time of
coining, and it were boldness to set one, of our own heads. Go,
Huith Cluist to his disciples, Luke xxiv. 41>. Stay if e in Jerusa-
Irm^ until ye be endued with power from on high. I'hus he
f»aith to thee ; stay at Jerusalem, wait on him in the means he
hath appointed, till thou art endued with further power to nioi-ti-
fy thy corruptions, &c. And for thy comfort know,

1. Thy thus persevering to wait on God, will be an evi-
dence of strong grace in thee : the less encouragement thou hast
to duty, the more thy faith and obedience to bear thee up in duty.
He that can trade when times are so dead, that all his wares He
upon his hand, and yet draws not in his hand, but rather trades
more and more, sure his stock is great. What, no comfort in
hearing, no ease to thy spirit in praying, and yet more greedy
to hear, and more frequent in prayer ? O soul, great is thy faith
and patience.

2. Assure thyself when thou art at the greatest pinch, strength
shull come : They that wait on the Lord shall renew their
strength : when the last handful of meal was dressing, then is
the prophet sent to keep the widow's house. When temptation
is strong, thy little strength even spent, and thou ready to yield
into the hands of thine enemies, then expect succours from heaven
to enable thee to hold out under the temptation : Thus to Pad,
9ny giace is sufficient^ or power from heaven to raise the siege,
and drive away the tempter ; thus to Job, when satan had him
at an advantage, then God takes him off. Like a wise modera-
tor, when the respondent is hard put to it by a subtle opponeirt,
takes him off, when he would else run him down, James v. 11.
Ye have heard of the patience of Job^ and have seen the end of
the Lord^ that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.

EPHES. vr. 11.

Put on the whole Armour of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the Wiles of the DeviL

^T'HIS verse is a key to the former, wherein the apostle had ex-
* horted believers to encourage, and bear up their fainting
spirits on the Lord, and the power of his might. Now in these
words he explains himself, and shows how he would have tiieni
do this ; not presumptuously come into the field without tliat ar-
mour, which God hath appointed to be worn by all his soldiers,
and ytt with a bravado to trust in the power of God to save them.

That

44 Put on the whole At^wur of God.

That soul is sure to fall short of home (heaven I mean) w ho hath
nothing but a carnal confidence on the name of God, blown up by
the ignorance of God 'And liimself : No, he that would have his
confidence duly placed on the power of God, must conscientiously
use the means appointed for his defence, and not rush naked into
the battle, like that fanatic spirit at Munster, who would needs
go forth, and chase away the whole army, then besieging that
cit}^, with no other cannon than a few words charged with the
name of the Lord of hosts (which he blasphemously made bold to
nse) saying, I?i the name of the Lord of Hosts, depart. But
himself soon perished, to learn others wisdom by what he paid
for his folly. What foolish braving language shall you hear drop
from the most prophane and ignorant among us ? They trust in
God,, hope in his mercy, defy the devil and all his works, and
such stuff, who yet are poor naked creatures, without the least
piece of God's armour upon their souls. To cashier such pre-
sumption from the saints camp, he annexed this directory to his
exhortation, Put on the whole Armour of God, S^c. So that the
words fall into tiiese two general parts.

First, A direction annexed to the former exhortation, shewing
bow we may in a regular way come to be strong in the Lord,
that is, by putting on the whole armour of God.

Second, A reason or argument strengthening this direction, that
tre may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. In the
direction observe.

First, The furniture he dii-ects, and that is, Armour.

Second, The kind orquality of this armour. Armour of God.

Third, The quantity or entireness of the armour. The whole
qnnour of God.

Fourth, The use of this armour; Put on the whole armour of
God.

To begin with the first. The furniture which every one must
get that would fight Christ's battles : the question here will be,
what is this armour ?

First, By armour is meant Christ; we read of putting on the
Lord Jesus, Horn. xiii. 14. where Christ is set forth under the
nation of armour. The apostle doth not exhort them, for rioting
and drunkenness, to put on sobriety and temperance ; for cham-i
bering and wantonness, put on chastity fas the Philosopher would
have done) ; but bids put on the Lord Jesus Christ; implying
thus much. Till Christ be put on, the creature is unarmed, Jt
is not a man's morality and philosophical virtues that will repel
at temptation, sent with a full charge from satan's cannon, though
povssibly it may be the pistol shot of some less solicitation ; so
that he is the man in armour, that is in Christ. Again, tlie
graces of Christ, these are armour, as the girdle of truth, th^

bre^st-f

I*ut on the uhole Armour of God, 45

bi*east-p1ate of righteousness, and the rest. Hence we arc bid
also put on the new man, Eph. iv. 24. which is made up of all the
several graces, as its parts and members. And he is the un-
armed soul, that is the unregenerate soul. Not excluding tiiase
duties antl means which God hath appointed the Chrislian to use
for his defence.

I'he plirase thus opened ; the point is,

»'V%«'V%%^^VW«i«^iVWt>

CHAP, I.

Shewing the ChristJess mid Graceless Soul, to be the Sottl with'
out Armour, and therein his Misery.

Ohserr, 'T'HAT a person in a christless, graceless state, is na-
^ ked and unarmed, and so unfit to fight Christ's bat-
tles against sin and satan. Or thus, a soul out of Christ is naked,
and destitute of all armour to defend them against sin and satan.
God at first sent man forth in complete armour, being created in
righteousness and true holiness ; but by a wile the devil stripped
him, and therefore as soon as the first sin was completed, it is
written, Gen. ili. 7. They were naked, that is, poor weak crea-
tures, at the will of satan, a subdued people, disarmed by their
proud conqueror, and unable to make head against him. Indeed
it cost satan some dispute to make the first breach, but after that
he had once the gates opened to let him in as conqueror into the
heart of man, he plays rex : Behold a troop of other sins crow 4
in after him, without any stroke or strife; instead of confessing
their sins, they run their head in a bush, and by their good will
w^ould not come where God is, and when they cannot flee from
him, how do they prevaricate before him ? They peal one of ano-
ther, shifting the sin, rather than suing for mercy. So quickly
were their hearts hardened througli the dcceitfulness of sin. And
this is the woeful condition of every son and daughter of Adam :
naked he finds us, and slaves makes us, till God by his effectual
call delivers ns from the power of satan into the kingdom of his
dear Son : which will further appear, if we consider this christ-
less state in a four- fold notion.

First, It is a state of alienation from God. Ye were ivUhoiit
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the covena?it of promise, Eph. ii. 12, Such a one hath no
more to do with any covenant promise, than he that lives at Konie
lias to do with the charter of London, which is the birth-iight of
its own denisons, not strangers. He is without God in the
world, he can claim no more protection from God than an out-
lawed subject from his prince. If any mischief befuls him, the

mends

46 Tut on the whole Armour of God,

mends is in his own hands, whereas God hath his hedge of special
providence about his saints ; and the devil, thougli his spite be
most atthenj, dares not come upon God's ground to touch any of
them, without particular leave. Now what a deplored condition
is that, wherein a soul is left to the wide world, in the midst of
legions of lusts and devils, to be rent and torn like a silly hare
among a pack of hounds, and no God to call them off ! Let God
leave a people, though never so warlike, presently they lose their
wits, cannot find their hands : a company of children or wounded
men may rise up, and chase them out of their fenced cities, be-
cause God is not with them ; which made Caleb and Joshua pa-
cify the mutinous Israelites at the tidings df giants and walled
cities, with this ; The;y are bread for tiSj their defence ts depar^
ted from them. How much more must that soul be as bread to
satan, that hath no defence from the Almighty ? Take men of the
greatest parts, natural or acquired accomplishments, who only
want an union with Christ, and renewing grace from Christ : O
what fools doth the devil make of them, leading them at his plea-
sure, some to one lust, some to another ; the proudest of them all
is slave to one or other, though it be to the ruining of body and
soul for ever ! Where lies the mystery, that men of such parts and
wisdom should debase themselves to such drudgery work of hell ?
Even here, they are in a state of alienation from God, and no
more able of themselves to break the devil's prison, than a slavQ
to run from his chain.

Second, The christless state is a state of ignorance, and such
must needs be naked and unarmed. He that cannot see his ene-
my, how can he ward off the blow he sends ? One seeing prophet
leads a whole army of blind men whither he pleaseth. The im-
perfect knowledge saints have here, is satan's advantage against
them ; he often takes them on the blind side : how easily then
may he, with a parcel of good words, carry the blind soul out of
his way, who knows not a step of the right? Now, that the
christless state is a state of ignorance, see Eph, v. 8. Ye ^ere
mmetimes darkness^ but now are ye light in the Lord. Ye were
(darkness, not in the dark, as one that hath an eye may be. A
child of light is often in the dark, concerning some truth or pro-
mise, but then hath a spiritual eye, which the christless persoa
wants, and so is darkness. And this darkness cannot be enligh-
tened, but by its union with Christ, which is expressed in the fol-
lowing phrase. But now are ye light in the LotxL As the eye
of the body, once put out, can never be restored by the creature's
art, so neither can the spiritual eye, lost by Adam's sin, be re-
stored by the teaching of men and angels. It is one of the dis-
eases which Christ came to cure, Luke iv. 18. 'Tis true, there
h a light of reason, which is imparted to every man by nature ;

but

Pitt on the whole Armour of God, 47

but this light is darkness, compared with the saints ; as the night
is dark to the day, even when the moon is in its full glon^ The
iiight-light of reason may save a person fi-om some ditch, or poud,
great and broad sins, but it will never help him to escape the
more secret corruptions, which the suints see like atoms in the
beams of spiritual knowledge. There is such curious work the
creature is to do, which cannot be wrought by candle-light of na-
tural knowledge. Nay more, where the common illumination of
the spirit is superadded to this light of nature, yet that is dark-
ness compared with the sanctifying knowledge of a renewed soul,
which doth both discover spiritual truths, and warm the heart at
the same time with the love of truth, having like the sun a proli-
fi^al and quickening virtue, which the other wants ; so that the
heart lies, under such common illuminations, cold and dead. He
hath no more strength to resist satan, than if he knew not the
command ; whereas the Christian knowledge, even when taken
prisoner by a temptation, pursue? and brings back the soul, as
Abraham his nephew, out of the enemies hands : which hints the
third.

Third, The christless state is a state of impotency, Kom. t.
n7/f« we were withouf strength., Christ came to die for the i/«-
^odli/, What can a disarmed people, not having sword or gnu,
do to shake off the yoke of a conquering enemy ? Such a power
hath satan over the soul, L.uke xi. 21 . He is called the strong
man that keeps the soul as his palace: If he hath no disturbance'
from heaven, he need fear no mutiny within ; he keeps all in
peace there. What the spirit of God doth in a saint, that in a
manner doth satan in a sinner. The spirit fills the heart of the
saint with love, joy, holy desires, fears ; so satan fills the sinner's
heart with pride, lust, lying : Wh;i/ hath satan filled thy heat^t ?
saith Peter. And thus filled with satan (as the drunkard with
wine), he is not his own man, but satan's slave.

Fourth, The state of unregeneracy is a state of friendship with
isin and satan. If it be enmity against God (as it is), then friend-
ship with satan. Now it will be hard to make that soul fight iu
earnest against his friend. Is satan divided ? Will the devil
within, fight against the devil without ? Satan in the heart, shut
out satan at the door ? Sometimes indeed there appears a scuffle
between satan and a carnal heart ; but it is a mere cheat, like the
fighting of two fencers on a stage ; You would think at first they
were in earnest, but observing how wary they are where they hit
one another, you may soon know they do not mean to kill ; and
that which puts all out of doubt, when the prize is done, you shall
see them making merry together, with what they have got of
their spectators, which was all they fought for : when a carnal
heart makes the greatest bustle against sin, by complaining of it^

or

48 Pat on the whole Jirmour of God,

OP praying against it, follow him but off the stage of duty (where
he had gained the reputation of a saint, the prize he fights for,)
and you shall see them sit as friendly together in a corner as ever.

Use \ . First, I'his takes the wonder off satau's gieat con-
quests in the world : when you look abroad, and see his vast em-
pire, and what a little spot of ground contains Christ's subjects,
what heaps of precious souls lie prostrate under this foot of pride,
and what a little regiment of saints march under Christ's banner :
perhaps the strangeness of the thing may make you ask. Is hell
stronger than heaven ? The arms of satan more victorious than
the cross of Christ ? No such matter ; consider but this one thing,
and you will wonder that Christ hath any to follow him, rather
than that he hath so few. Satan fmds the world unarmed ; when the
Prince of the World comes, he finds nothing to oppose, the whole
soul is in a disposition to yield at the first summons ; and if con-
science, governor for God in the creature, stands out a-while, all
the other powers, as will and affections, are in a discontent, (like
mutinous soldiers in a garrison) who never rest till they have
brought over conscience to yield, or, against its command, set
open the city gate to the enemy, and so deliver traitorously their
conscience prisoner to their lusts. But when Christ comes to de-
mand the soul, he meets a scornful answer. Depart from us^ we
desire not the knowledge of the Most High. We will not have
this man to reign over its. With one consent they vote against
him, and rise up as the Philistines against Samson, whom they
called the destroijer of the coimtrij. Ye ivill not come unto me^
saith Christ. O how true are poor sinners to the devil's trust I
They will not deliver the castle they hold for satan, till fired over
their heads. Pharaoh opposeth Moses on one hand, and Israel
cry out upon him on the other. Such measures hath Christ both
/at Satan's hand, and the sinner's. That which lessened Alexan-
der's conquests was, he overcame a people buried in barbarism,
without arras, or discipline of war ; and that which heightened
Caesar's (though not so many), he overcame a people more war-
like and furnished. Satan's victories are of poor, igiM)rant, grace-
less souls, who have neither arms, nor hands, nor hearts to op-
pose ; but when he assaults a saint, then he sits down before a
city with gates and bars, and ever riseth with shame; unable to
take the weakest hold, to pluck the weakest saint out of Christ's
liands ; but Christ brings souls out of his dominions w4th a high
hand, in spite of all the force and fury of hell, which like Pharaoh
and his host pursue them.

Secondly, This gives us a reason why the devil hath so great a
spite against the gospel. Why ? because this opens a magazine
of arms and furniture for the soul ; the word is that Tower of
David^ Cant. iv. 4. built for an arinour^^ wherein- there hang a

thousand

Put on the wliole At'mour of God. 49

ihofisand hiiclclers^ all the shields of mighty men, Heuce the
saints have ever had tlieir armour, and the pieachuig of the gos-
pel imlocks it; As gospel light ascends, so satan's ahady kiag-
dom of darkness vaaisheth. Rev. xiv..l6. There one angel comes
forth to preach the everlasting gospel ; and another angel follows
at his back, ver. 8. crying Victoria^ Babylon is fallen, i^ fallen.
The very first charge the gospel gave to the kingdom of darkness,
shook the foundations thereof, and put the legions of hell to tlie
rtui. Tlie seventy, whom Chiist sent out, bring this speedy ac-
«©n»t of their embassage : Lord, even the devils are subject unto
Tis through thy name ; and Christ answers, I beheld satan as
lightning fall from heaven. As if he hud said, 'Tis no new^s you
tell me, I beheld satan fall when I sent you ; I knew the gosj)el
would make work where it came ; and therefore no wonder satan
labours to dispossess the gosj)el, which dispossesseth him ; lie
knows that army is near lost, whose magazine is blown up : *Tis
true indeed, under the very gospel the devil rageth more i^i such
swinish sinners, as are given over of God to be possessed of that
fiend, for rejecting of his grace ; but he is cast out of others, who
before the loving kindness of God to nian appealed in the gospel,
were commanded by him, serving divers lusts and pleasures; but
now by the light of the gospel they see their folly, and, by the
grace it brings, are enabled to renounce him. This, this, is that
which torments the foul sjnrit, to see himself forsaken of his old
friends and servants, and this new Lord to come and take his sub-
jects from him: and therefore he labours either by j>ersecutiou to
drive the gospel away, or by policy to persuade a people to send
it away from their coasts : and was he ever more likely to effect
it among us ? What a low esteem hath he brought the preaching
of the gospel unto ? The price is fallen half in half to what it was
some years past, even among those that have been counted the
greatest merchants upon the saints exchange. Some, that have
thought it worth crossing the seas, even to the Indies (almost as
far as others fetch their gold), to enjoy the gospel, are loth now
to cross the street to hear it at so cheap a rate ; and some that
come (who formerly trembled at it), make it most of their errand
to mock at it, or quarrel Vvith it. Nay, it is come to such a pass,
that the word is so heavy a charge to the squeamish stomachs of
many professors, that it comes up again presently, and abundance
of choler with it, against the preacher, especially if it fall foul of
the sins and errors of the times, the very naming of which is
enough to offend, though the nation be sinking under the weight.
What reproaches are the faithful ministers of the gospel laden
withal ? I call heaven and earth to witness, whether Miey suffered
a hotter persecution of the tongue, than in this apostatizing age.
A new generation of professors are started up, that will not know
them to be the ministers of Chiist, though those before them (as

well

50 Pu£ on the whole Armour of God,

well in grace, as in time, more able to derive their spiritual pedi-
gree than themaelves) have to their death owned them for their
spiritual fathers. And must not the ark needs shake, when they
that carry it are thus strack at, both in their persons and office ?
What ai-e these men doing ? Alas, they know not. Father, for-
give them ; they are cutting off their right hand with their left ;
they are making themselves and the nation naked, by despising
the gospel, and those that bring it.

Use 3. Consider your deplored estate, who are wholly naked
and unarmed. Can you pity the beggar at your door (when you
see such in a winter day, shivering, with a naked back exposed
to the fury of the cold), ^nd not pity your own far more djsmal
soul-nakedness, by which thou liest open to heaven's wrath, and
hell's malice ? Shall their nakedness cover them with shame, fill
them with fear of perishing, which makes them with pitiful moans
knock and cry for relief, as it is reported of Russia, where their
poor (through extreme necessity) have this desperate manner of
begging in the streets ; Give me and cut me, give me and kill
me^ And canst thou let satan come and cut thy throat in thy bed
of sloth, rather than accept of clothes to cover, yea, armour to
defend thee ? (I mean Christ and his grace, which in the gos-
pel is tendered to you.) And do not lightly believe your flatter-
ing hearts, if they shall tell you are provided of these already. I
am afraid many a gaudy professor will be found as naked in regard
of Christ, and truth of grace, as drunkards and swearers them-
selves: Such there are, who content themselves with a Christ in
profession, in gifts, and in duties, but seek not a Christ in solid
grace, and so perish ; those indeed are an ornament to the Chris-
tian, as the scarf and feather to the soldier, but these quench not
the bullet in battle ; 'tis Christ and his grace doth that, there-
fore labour to be sound rather than brave Christians. Grace em-
beUished with gifts is the more beautiful ; but these, without
grace, only the richer spoil for satan.

The second branch of the first general part of the words follows ;
and that is, the quality or kind of that armour which the Christian
is here directed to provide. It is not any trash will serve the turn ;
better none than not armour of proof; and none such, but armour
of God, Jn a twofold respect, it must be of God. First, In li^
stitution and appointmeut. Secondly, In constitution.

CHAP.

Pui on the tvhole Artnour of Cod* 51

CHAP. II,

♦ ■

tSheweth, that the Armour we use against Satan must be divine
in the Institution^ such only as God appointa.

Ohserv, THIRST, the Christian's armour which he wears, must
-•- be ot divine institution and appointment. The sol-
dier comes into the field with no arms, but what his general com-
mands ; 'tis not left to every one's fancy to bring what weapons
he please, this will breed confusion. The Christian soldier is
bound up to God's order ; though the army be on earth, yet the
touncil of war sits in heaven ; this duty ye shall do, that means
ye shall use ; and to do more, or use other than God commands,
though with some seeming success against sin, such shall surely be
called to an account for this boldness. The discipline of war a-
niong men is strict in this case. Some have suffered death by a
council of war, even when they have beaten the enemy, because
out of their place, or beside their order. God is very precise in
this point j he will say to such as invent ways to worship him of
their own, and coin means to mortify corruption, obtain comfort
in their own mint, JVho hath required this at your hands 9 This
is truly to be righteous over-much (as Solomon speaks), when
we will pretend to correct God*s law, and add supplements of our
own to his rule. Who will pay that man his wages, that is not
set on work by God ? God tells Israel, the false prophets shall do
them no good, because they come not of his errand, .Ter. xxiii. 22.
bo neither will those ways and means help, which are not of God's
appointing ; God's thoughts are not as man's, nor his ways as
ours, which he useth to attain his ends by. If man had been to
set forth the Israelitish army, now to march out of Kgypt ; surely
his wisdom would have directed rather to have plundered the
•^'??yptians of their horses and arms, (as more necessary for such
an expedition) than to borrow their jevt^els and ear-rings : but
God will have them come out naked and on foot ; and Moses
keeps close to his order ; yea, when horses were taken in battle,
be/cause God commanded they should be houghed, they obeyed,
though to their seeming disadvantage. It was God's war they
wiiged, and therefore but reasonable they should be under his
command : they encamped and marched by his order ; as the ark
rioved and rested, they fought by his command, the number ap-
pointed by him, the means and weapons they should use, all pre-
scribed by God, as in the assault of Jericho : and what is the
gospel of all this ? (for surely God hath an eye in that to our
marching to heaven, and our fighting with these cursed spirits and
hists that stand in our way) but that we should fight lawfully^
Uhiiig those means, which we have from his mouth in his word.

D This

52 Put on the whole Armour of God*

This reprovetb two sorts.

] . First, Those that fight satan in armour that hath no di-
vine institution, as,

First, The Papist. Look into his armoury, and hardly a piece
that will be found armour of God. They fight in the Pope's ar-
mour J his authority is the shop wherein their weapons are for-
ged ; it were a kind of penance to your patience, to repeat all
the several pieces of armour, with which they load silly souls, too
heavy indeed for the broadest shoulders among them to bear; yea,
more than the wiser sort of them mean to use : their masses, ma-
tins, vigils, pilgrimages, lent-fasts, whippings, vows of chastity,,
povertj^, with a world of such trash ; where is a word of God for
these ? Who hath required these things at their hands ? A thou-
sand woes will one day fall upon those impostors, who have strip-
ped the people of the true armour of God, and put these reeds and
bulrushes in their hands. This may justify us in the sight of God
and men, for our departure from them, who will force us to ven-
ture the life of our souls in such paper armour, when God bath
provided better.

Secondl)^, The carnal Protestant, who fights in fleshly armour,
2 Cor. X. 3. The Apostle speaks there o^ warring after the fleshy
that is, with weapons or means, which man's carnal wisdom
prompts to, and not God's commands, and so are weak. How few
are clad with other in the day of battle? First, when satan tempts
to sin, if he hath not presently a peaceable entrance, yet the re-
sistance commonly made is carnal ; the strength carnal they rest
on; their own, not God's; the motives carnal, as the fear of man
more than of God. Where one saith, How shall I do this, and
anger man, displease my master, provoke my parents, and lose the
good opinion of my minister ? Herod feaaed John, and did many
things ; had he feared God, he would have laboured to have done
eVery thing. The like may be said of ail other motives, which
have their spring in the creature, not in God ; they are armour^
which will not out-stand shot. If thj^ strength lie in a creature-
lock, it may be soon cut off; if in God, it will hold, as his com-
mand.; it is written : I cannot do it, but I must set my foot on
the law of my Maker. Or the love of Christ ; I cannot come at
my lust, but I tnust go over my bleeding Saviour ; and therefore
away, soul tempter, I hate thee and thy motion. This founda-
tion is rock, and will stand ; but if it be some carnal respect that
balanceth thee, another more weighty may be found of the same
kind, which will cast the scales another way. She that likes not
the man because of his dress only, may soon be. gained when he
comes in another habit. Sataa'can change his suit, and then thy
mouth will be stopped when thy carnal argument is taken off. —
Secondly, when the word or conscience rebuke for sin, what is the

armour

Put on the whole Armour of God, 53

armour that men commonly cover their guilty souls withal? Truly
no other than carnal. If they cannot evade the charge that these
bring, then they labour to mitigate it, by extenuating the fact.
'Tis true, will they say, I did (I confe&*8) commit such a fault,
but I was drawn in : The woman gave «/e, and I did cat, was
Adam's fig-leaf armour ; 'twas but once or twice, and I hope that
breaks no such squares, was this such a great business ? I know
jolly Christians will do as much as this comes to ; I thank God,
1 cannot be charged for whore or thief; This is the armour which
must keep off the blow. But if conscience will not be thus taken
off, then they labour to divert their thoughts, by striking up the
loud music of carnal delights, that the noise of one may drown
the other ; oi* with Cain, they will go from the presence of the
JiOrd, and come no more at those ordinances which make their
head ache, and hinder the rest of their raving consciences. If
3^et the ghost haunts them, then they labour to pacify it with some
good work or other, which thc}'^ set against their bad ; their alms
and charity in their old age, must expiate the oppression and vio-
lence of their fonner days ; as if this little frankincense were
enough to air and take away the plague of CJod's curse, which is
on their ill-gotten goods. Thus poor creatures catch at any sorry-
covering, which will not so much as hide their shame, much, less
choke the bullet of God's wrath, when God shall fire upon them;
this must be the armour of God's appointing. Adam was naked
for all his fig-leaves, while God tavght him to wake coats ofskin.
Gen. iii. 21. covertly (as some think) shadowing out Christ the
true Lanih of God, whose righteousness alone was appointed by
him to cover onr shame, and arm our naked souls from the sight
and stroke of his justice?.

2. Secondly, It reproves those who use the armour of God, but
not as God hath appointed, which appears in three sorts :

First, When a person useth a duty appointed by God, not as .
armour of defence against sin, but as a cover for sin. Who would
think him an enemy that wears Christ's colours in his hat, and
iiiarcheth after Christ in the exercise of all the duties of his wor-
ship ? Such a one may pass all the courts of guard, without so
much as being bid stand ; all take him for a friend ; and yet some
such there are, who are fighting against Christ all the while. The
hypocrite is the man, he le»rns his postures, gets the word, has
his tongue tipt with scripture language, and walks in the habit of
a Christian, merely on a design to drive his trade the more closely;
like some highwaymen in our days, whorobrinthe habit of sol-
diers, that they may be the less suspected. This is desperate
wickedness indeed, to take up God's arms, and use them in the
devil's service ; of all sinners such shall find the least mercy j false
friends shall speed worse than open enemies*

D 2 . Second! v?

54 Put on the whole ArmoUr of God*

Secondly, They use not the armour of God, as God hatli ap-
pointed, who put a carnal confidence therein. We must not con-
fide in the armour of God, but in the God of this armour, because
all our weapons are only mighty through God^ 2 Cor. x. The
ark was the means of the Jews safety, but, carnally applauded
and gloried in, hastened their overthrow : So duties and ordinan-
ces, gifts and graces, in their place, are means for the soul's de-
fence ; satan trembles, as much as the Philistines at the ark, to
see a soul diligent in the use of duty, and exercise of grace ; but
when the creature confides in them, this is dangerous. As some^
when they have prayed, think they please God for all day, though
they take little heed to their steps. Others have so good an opi-
nion of their faith, sincerity, knowledge, that you may as soon
make them believe they are dogs, as that they may ever be taken
in such an error or sinful practice. Others, when assisted in duty,
are prone to stroke their own head with a Benefecistz\ Bernarde^
and so promise themselves to speed, because they have done their
errand so well. What speak such passages in the hearts of men,
but a carnal confidence in their armour, to their ruin? Many souls,
we may safely say, do not only perish praying, repenting, and be-
lieving after a sort, but they perish by praying and repenting, &c.
while they carnally trust in these. As it falls out sometimes, that
the soldier in battle loseth his life by means of his own armour, it
is so heavy he cannot flee with it, and so close buckled to him,
that he cannot get it off, to flee for his life without it. If we be
saved, we must come naked to Christ, for all our duties j we will
not fly to Christ while confiding in them ; and some are so locked
into them, that they cannot come without them, and so in a day of
temptation are trampled under the feet of God's wrath, and satan's
fury. The poor publican throws down his arms, (that is, all con-
fidence in himself) cries out for quarter at the hands of mercy ;
God he merciful unto me a sinner^ and he comes off* with his life,
he went away justified ; but the Pharisee, loaden with his righte-
ousness, and conceited of it, stands to it, and is lost.

Thirdly, They do not use the armour of God as such, who, in
the performing of divine duties, eye not God through them, and
this makes them all weak and ineflfectual. Then the word is
mighty, when read as the word of God; then the gospel preached,
powerful to convince the conscience, and revive the drooping
spirit, when heard as the appointment of the great God, and not
the exercise of a mean creature. Now it will appear in three
things, whether we eye divine appointment in the means.

First, When we engage in a duty, and look not up to God for
his blessing. Didst thou eye God's appointment in the means,
thou wouldst say. Soul, if there come any good of thy present ser-
vice,' it must drop from heaven, for it is God's appointment, not

man's :

Put on the whole Armour of God, 55

man's: and can I profit whether God will or no? Or think to find
and bring away any soul-enriching treasure from his ordinance
without his leave ? Had I not best look up to him, by whose bles-
sing I live more than by my bread ?

Again, Secondly, It appears we look not at God's appointment,
when we have low thoughts of the means. "What is Jordan that I.
should wash in it ? What is the preaching that I should attend on
it, where I hear nothing but what I knew before ? What are these
beggarly elements of water, and bread, and wine ? Are not these
the reasonings of a soul that forgets who appoints these ? Didst
thou remember who commands, thou wouldst not question what
the command is. What though it be clay, let Christ use it, and it
shall open the eyes, though in itself more like to put them out.
Hadst thou thy eye on God, thou wouldst silence thy carnal rea-
son with this : 'Tis God sends me to such a duty ; whatever he
saith unto me, I will do it, though he should send me (as Christ
them) to draw wine out of the pots filled with water.

Thirdly, When a soul leaves off a duty, because he hath not in
it what he expected from it. O ! saith the soul, I see it is in vaiu
to foUow the means as I have done : still satan foils me : I will
even give over. Dost thou remember, soul, 'tis God's appoint-
ment ? Surely then thou wouldst persevere in the midst of discou-
ragement. He that bids thee pray, bids thee pray without ceas-
ing. He that bids thee hear, bids thee wait at the posts of wis-
dom. Thou shouldst reason thus : God hath set me on duty, and
liere J will stand, till God takes me off, and bids me leave praying.

»^%'%»%%%V%%%%V»%»%%'%V%V%

CHAP. III.

Sheweth, that the Armour we use for our Defence against Satan^
must not onli/ be divine by Institution^ but Constitution also,

CECONDLY, the Christian's armour must be armour of God,
^ in regard of its make and constitution. My meaning is, 'tis
not only God that must appoint the weapons and arms the Chris-
tian useth for his defence, but he must also be the efficient of them ;
he must work all their Work in them and for them. Prayer is
an appointment of God, yet this is not armour of proof, except it
be a prayer of God flowing from his spirit. Hope, that is the
helmet the saint by command is to wear ; but this hope must be
God's creature, who hath begotten us to a lively hope^ Jude xx.
Faith, that is another principal piece in the Christian's furniture ;
but it must be the faith of God's electa I Pet. i. 3. Tit. i. 1 . He
is to take righteousness and holiness for his breast-plate j but it

D 3 must

56 Put on the whole Armour of God,

must be true holiness^ Eph. iv. 24. Put on the new man, which
after God is created m righteousness and true holiness. Tims,
you see, it is not armour as armour, but as armour of God, that
makes the soul impregnable. That which is born of God over-
cometh tJte world : a faith born of God, a hope born of God : but
the spurious adulterous brood of duties and graces, being begot of
mortal seed, cannot be immortal.

Must the soul's armour be of God's make ? Be exhorted then
to look narrowly, whether the armour ye wear be the workman-
ship of God or no. There is abundance of false ware put off now
a-days ; little good armour worn by the multitude of professors ;
'tis Satan's after-game he plays, if he cannot please the sinner with
his naked state of prophaneness, then to put him off with some-
thing like grace, some slighty stuff that shall neither do him good
nor satan hurt ; thus many, like children, that cry for a knife or
dagger, and are pleased as well with a bone knife and wooden dag-
ger, as with the best of all ; so they have some armour, it matters
not what. Pray they must, but little care how it be performed :
Believe in God ! Yes, they hope they are not infidels : but what
that belief is, how they came by it, or whether it will hold in an
evil day, this never was put to the question in their hearts. Thus
thousands perish with a vain conceit : they think they are armed
against satan, death, and judgment, when they are niisef^able and
naked : yea, worse on it than those who are more naked, (those
I mean) who have not a rag of civility to hide their shame from
the world's eye ; and that in a double respect.

First, It is harder to work on such a soul savingly, because he
hath a form, though not the power, and this affords him a plea.
A soul purely naked, nothing like the wedding garment on, he is
speechless : the drunkard hath nothing to say for himself, when
you ask him why he lives so swinishly ; you may come up to him,
and get within him, and turn the very mouth of his conscience
upon him, which will shoot conviction into him : But to come to
deal with one that prays and hears, one that is a pretender to hope
and faith in God, here is a man in glistering armour, he hath his
weapon in his hand, with which he will keep the preacher, and
the word he chargeth him with, at arm's length. Who can say,
I am not a saint ? What duty do I neglect? Here is a breast-
work he lies under, which makes him not so fair a mark either to
the observation or reproof of another, his chief defect being with-
in, where man's eye comes not. Again, it is harder to w^ork on
him, because he hath been tampered with already, and miscarried
in the essay. How comes such a one to be acquainted with such
duties, to make such a profession ? Was it ever thus ? No : the
word hath been at work upon him, his conscience hath scared
him from his trade of wickedness into a form of profession ; but

taking

Pu4 on tJie whole Armour of God, 57

taking in short of Christ, for want of a thorough change, it is
harder to remove him than the other : he is like a lock whose
wards have been troubled, which makes it harder to turn the key,
than if never pottered with. ' It is better dealing with a wild
ragged colt, never backed, than one that in breaking hath taken a
wrong stroke : a bone quite out of joint, than false set. In a
word, such a one hath more to deny than a prophane person : the
one hath but his lusts, his whores, his swill and draught ; but the
other hath his duties, his seeming graces. O how hard it is to
persuade such a one to light, and hold Christ's stirrup, while he
and his duties are made Christ's footstool !

Secondly, Such a one is deepest in condemnation. None sink
so far into hell as those that come nearest heaven, because they
fall from the greatest height. As it aggravates the torments of
damned souls in this respect above devils, they had a cord of mercy
thrown out to them, which devils had not ; so by how much God
by his spirit waits on, pleads with, and by both gains on a soul
more than others, by so much such a one (if he perish) will find
hell the hotter; these add to his sin, and the remembrance of his
sin in hell thus accented, will add to his torment. None will
liave such a sad parting from Christ, as those who went half the
way with him, and then left him. Therefore CI beseech you)
look to your armour. David would not fight in armour he had
not tried, though it was a king's ; perhaps some thought him too
nice. What, is not the king's armour good enough for David ?
Thus many will say. Art thou so curious and so precise ? Such a
great man doth thus and thus, and hopes to come to heaven at
last, and darest thou not venture thy soul in his armour ? No,
Christian, follow not the example of the greatest on earth ; 'tis
thy own soul thou venturest in battle, therefore thou canst not be
too choice of thy armour. Bring thy heart to the word, as the
only touch-stone of thy grace and furniture ; the word (I told you)
is the tower of David, from whence thy armour must he fetched;
if thou canst find this tower-stamp on it, then it is of God, else
not. Try it therefore by this one scripture-stamp. Those wea-
pons are mighty, which God gives his saints to fight his battles^
withal, 2 Cor. x. 4. The weapons of our tvarfare are not carnal^
but mighty through God, The sword of the spirit hs^th its point
and edge, whereby it makes its way into his heart and conscience,
through the impenitency of the one, and stupidity of the other,
(wherein satan, as with buff and coat of mail, arms the sinner
against God) and there cuts and slashes, kills and mortifies lust
in its own castle, wbere satan thinks himself impregnable. The
breast-plate, which is of God, doth not bend and break at every
dart of temptation, but it is of such a divine temperament, that it
repels satan's motions with scorn on satan's teeth. Should such
/ D 4 a one

58 Vut on the whole Armour of God,

a one as I sin ? as Nehemiah in another case ; and such are all
the rest. Now try whether your weapons be mighty or weak y
what can you do or sufler more for God, than an hypocrite that is-
clad in fleshly armour ? I will tell you what the world saith, and
if you be Christians, clear yourselves, and wipe ofFthat dirt which
they throw upon your glistering armour ; they say. These pro-
fessors indeed have God more in their talk than we, they are oft-
ener in the mount of duty than we, but when they come down
into their shops, relations or worldly employments, then the best
of them all is but like one of us ; they can throw the tables of
God's commandments out of their hands as well as we, come from
a sermon, and be as covetous and griping, as peevish and passion-
ate as the worst ; they shew as little love to Christ as others ;
when it is matter of cost, as to relieve a poor saint, or maintain
the gospel, you may get more from a stranger, an enemy, than
from a professing brother. O Christians, either \andicate the
name of Christ, whose ensign you seem to march after, or throw
away your seeming armour, by which you have drawn the eyes
of the world upon you. ' If you will not, Christ himself will ca-
shier you, and that with shame enough 'ere long. Never call
that armour of God, which defends thee not against the power of
satan. Take therefore the several pieces of your armour, and
try them, as a soldier before he fights will set his helmet, or head-
piece, as a mark, at which he lets fly a brace of bullets, and as he
finds them, so will wear them or leave them ; but be sure thou
shootcst scripture bullets. Thou boastest a breast-plate of righ-
teousness : ask thy soul, didst thou ever in thy life perform a
duty to please God, and not to accommodate thyself? thou hast
prayed often against thy sin, a great noise of these pieces have
been heard coming from thee by others, as if there were some hot
. light between thee and thy corruption, but canst thou indeed shew
one sin that thou hast slain by all thy praying? Joseph was alive,,
though his coat was brought bloody to Jacob ; and so may thy
sin be, for all thy mortified look in duty, and outcry thou makest
against them. If thou wouldst thus try every piece, thy credu-
lous heart would not so easily be cheated with satan's false ware.

Object, But is all armour that is of God thus mighty ? We
read of weak grace, little faith : how can this then be a trial of
our armour, whether of God or not ?

Arts. I answer. The weakness of grace is in respect of stronger
grace, but that weak grace is strong and mighty in comparison
of counterfeit grace : Now I do not bid thee try the truth of thy
grace by such a power as is peculiar to stronger grace, but by
that power which will distinguish it from false ; true grace, when
weakest, is stronger than false, when strongest. There is a prin-
ciple gf divine life in it, which the other hath not : Now life, as

it

Put on the whole Armour of God, 59

it gives excellency, (a flea or fly, by reason of its life, is more ex-
cellent than the sun in all his glory) so it gives strength. The
slow motion of a living man (though so feeble that he cannot go
a furlong in a day), yet, coming from life, imports more strengdi
than is in a ship, which (though it sails swiftly) hath its motion
from without : Thus possibly an hypocrite may exceed the true
Christian in the bulk and outside of a duty, yet because his
strength is not from life, but from some wind and tide abroad that
carries him, and the Christian's is from an inward principle ;
therefore the Christian's weakness is stronger than the hypocrite
in his greatest enlargements. 1 shall name but two acts of grace
when weakest, whereby the Christian exceeds the hypocrite in
all his best array. You will say. Then grace is at a weak stay
indeed, when the Christian is persuaded to commit a sin, a great
sin, such a one as possibly a carnal person would not have it said
of him for a great matter, so low may the tide of grace fall ; yet
true grace, at such an ebb, will appear of greater strength and
force than the other.

First, This principle of grace will never leave, till the soul
weeps bitterly, with Peter, that it hath offended so good a God.
Speak, O ye hypocrites, can you shew one tear that ever you shed
in earnest for a wrong done to God ? Possibly you may weep to
see the bed of sorrow which your sins are making for you in hell ;
but ye never loved God so well, as to mourn for the injury ye
have done the name of God. It is a good gloss Augustine hath
upon Esau's tears, Heb. xii. Flevit qitod perditit^ non qnod ven-
ditit. He wept that he lost the blessing, not that he sold it.
Thus we see an excellency of the saint's sorrow above the hypo-
crite's. The Christian, by his sorrows, shews himself a conque-
ror of that sin, which even now overcame him, while the hypo-
crite by his pride shews himself a slave to a worse lust, than that
he resists. While the Christian commits a sin, he hates it: where-
as the other loves it while he forbears it.

Secondly, When true grace is under the foot of a temptation,
yet then it will stir up in the heart a vehement desire of revenge,
like a prisoner in his enemy's hands, who is thinking and plotting
how to get out, and what he will do when out, waiting and long-
ing every moment for his delivery, that he may again take up
arms : O God^ remember me^ saith Sampson^ this once I pray
thee^ and atrengthen me, that I rnaif be at once avenged on the
Philistmes for my two eyes^ .Judges xvi. 27. Thus prays the
gracious soul, that God would but spare him a little, and
strengthen him but once before he dies, that he may be avenged
on his pride, unbelief, and those sins whereby he hath most dis-
honoured his God ; but a false heart is so far from studying re-
venge, that he rather swells like the sea, against the law which
banks his lust in, and is angry with God, who hath made sin
such a leap, that he must hazard his sonl if he will have it.

rwAP

60 Fut on the whole Armour of Go J.

CHAP. lY.

Of the Entweness of our Furniture* It must he the whole

Armour of God,

3. T^HE third branch in the saint's furniture is, the entirene^
*■ thereof, The whole Armmir of God. The Christian's ar-
mour must be complete, and that in a three-fold respect.

SECT. I. — First, He must be armed in every part cap-a-pee,
soul and body, the powers of the one, and senses of the other, not
any part left naked. A dart may fly in at a little hole, (like that
which brought a message of death to Ahab, through the joints of
his harness) and satan is such an archer, who can shoot at penny-
breadth. If all the man be armed, and only the eye left without,
satan can soon shoot his fire-balls of lust in at that loop-hole,
which will set the whole house on a flame. Eve looked but on
the tree, and a poisonous dart struck her to the heart. If the eye
be shut, and the ear be open to corrupt communication, satan will
soon wriggle in at this hole ; if all the outward senses be guarded,
and the heart not kept with all diligence, he will soon by hisowu
thoughts be betrayed into satan's hands. Our enemies are on
every side, and so must our armour be, on the right hand^ and on
the left^ 2 Cor. vi. 7. The apostle calls sin, an enemy that sur-
rounds us. If there be any part of the line unguarded, or weakly
provided, there satan falls on ; we see the enemy often enter
the city at one side, whilst he is beat back on the other, for want
of care to keep the whole line. Satan divides his temptations
into several squadrons, one he employs to assault here, another to
storm there. We read of fleshly wickedness, and spiritual wick-
edness ; whilst thou repellest satan tempting thee to fleshly wick-
edness, he may be entering thy city at the other gate of spiritual
wickedness. Perhaps thou hast kept thy integrity in the prac-
tical part of thy life ; but what armour hast thou to defend thy
head, thy judgment ? If he surprise thee here, corrupting that
with some error, then thou wilt not long hold out in thy practice.
He that could not get thee to prophane the sabbath among sen-
sualists and atheists, will, under the disguise of such a corrupt
principle as Christian liberty, prevail. Thus we see what need
we have of universal armour, in regard of every part.

SECT. II Second!}', The Christian must be in complete

armour, in regard of the several pieces and weapons, that make
up the whole armour of God. Indeed there is a concatenation
of graces, they hang together like links in a chain, stones in an.
arch, members in the body ; prick one vein, and the blood of the
whole body may run out at that sluice ; neglect one duty, and no
other will do us good. The apostle Peter, in his second epistle,

chap.

Put on the whole Armour of God. 6 1

cbap. i. ver. 5,6, 7. presseth the Christian to a joint endeavour,
to encrease the whole body of grace ; indeed that is heaUh when
the whole body thrives. Add (saith he) to your faith virtue ;
faith is the file-leading grace. Well, hast thou faith ? add vir-
tue : True faith is of a working, stirring nature ; without good
works it is dead or dying. Fides pin guescit operibus — Lulher.
'Tis kept in plight and heart by a holy life, as the flesh which
plaisters over the frame of man's body, though it receive his
heat from the vitals within, yet helps to preserve the very life of
those vitals ; thus good works and gracious actions have their
life from faith, yet are necessary helps to preserve the life of faith;
thus we see sometimes the child nursing the parent that bare it,
and therein performs but his duty. Thou art fruitful in good
works, yet thou art not out of the devil's shot, except thou ad-
dest to thy virtue, knowledge. This is the candle, without which
faith cannot see to do its work. Art thou going to give an alms?
If it be not oculata clMritas^ if charity hath not this eye of know-
ledge to direct when, how, what, and to whom thou art to give,
thou mayest at once wrong God, the person thou relievest, and
thyself. Art thou humbling thyself for thy sin ? for want of
knowledge in the tenour of the gospel, sat an may play upon thy
ignorance, and either persuade thee thou art not humbled enough,
when God knows thou art almost quackled with thy tears, and
even carried down by the impetuous torrent of thy sorrow into
despair, or else, shewing thee thy blubbered face, may flatter
thee into a carnal confidence of thy humiliation. Perhaps thou
seest the name of God dishonoured in the place where thou livest,
and thy spirit is stirred within thee (as Paul at Athens) ; now if
knowledge sits not in the saddle to rein and bridle in thy zeal,
thou wilt be soon carried over hedge and ditch, till thou fallest
into some precipice or other by thy irregular acting : Neither
is knowledge enough, except thou beest armed with temperance^
which (I conceive) is that grace, whereby the Christian (as mas-
ter of his own house) so orders his afibctions, (like servants to
reason and faith), that they do not irregularly move, or inordi-
nately lash out into desires of, cares for, or joy in the creature
comforts of this life, without which, satan will be too hard for
thee.

The historian tells us, that in one of the famous battles be-
tween the English and French, that which lost the French the
day was a shower of English arrows, which did so gall their
horse, as put the whole army into disorder; their horses knowing
no ranks, did tread down their own men. The affections are but
as the horse to the rider, on which knowledge should be moun-
ted ; if Satan's barbed arrows light on them, so that the desires of
the creature prove unruly, and jostle with thy desires of Christ..

thy

62 Put on the whole Armour of God,

thy care to keep thy credit or estate, put thy care to keep a good
conscience to disorder ; and thy carnal joy in wife and child tram-
ple down, or get before thy joy in the Lord ; judge on which side
victory is like to fall. Well, suppose thou marchest provided
thus far in goodly array towards heaven, while thou art swim-
ming in prosperity, must thou not also provide for foul way and
weather, I mean, an afflicted estate ? Satan will line the hedges
^Vith a thousand temptations, when thou comest into the narrow
lanes of adversity, where thou canst not run from this sort of
temptation, as in the campaign of prosperity. Possibly thou
that didst escape the snare of an alluring world, mayest be dis-
mounted by the same when it frowns ; though repentance kept
thee from being drunk with the sweet wines of those pleasures,
yet for want of patience, thou mayest be drunk with the wine of
astonishment, which is in affliction's hand : Therefore, saith the
Apostle, to temperance^ add patience : either possess thyself ia
patience, or else some raving devil of discontent will possess thee.
An impatient soul in affliction is a bedlamite in chains; yea, toa
like the devil in his chains, that rageth against God whilst he is
fettered by him. Well, hast thou patience ? an excellent grace
indeed, but not enough ; thou must be a pious man as well as a
patient. Therefore, saith the Apostle, to patience^ add godliness »
There is an atheistical stupid patience, and there is a godly Chris-
tian patience : satan numbs the conscience of the one, and no
wonder he complains not that feels not ; but the spirit of Christ
sweetly calms the other, not by taking awaj'^ the sense of pain,
but by overcoming it with the sense of his love. Now godliness
comprehends the whole worship of God, inward and outward. If
thou beest never so exact in thy morals, and not a worshipper of
God, then thou art an atheist. If thou dost worship God, and
that devoutly, but not by scripture-rule, thou art an idolater. If
according to the rule, but not in spirit and truth, then thou art
an hypocrite, and so fallest into the devil's mouth. Or if thon
dost give God one piece of his worship, and deniest another, still
satan comes to his market, Prov. xxviii. 9. He that tuimeth
bach his ear from hearing the law, his prayer is an abomination
to the Lord, Yet, Christian, all th}^ armour is not on. Thy god-
liness indeed would suffice, wert thou to live in a w^orld by thy-
self, or hadst nothing to do but immediate communion with God.
But, Christian, thou must not always dwell on this mount of im-
mediate worship ; and when thou descendest, thou hast many
brethren and servants to thy Father, who live with thee in the
same family ; and thou must comport thyself becomingly, or else
thy Father will be angry. First, thou hast brethren, heirs of
tlie same promise with thee, therefore you must add to holiness
bty)therlT^kindn€SS* If satan can set you at odds_, he gives a deep

wound

Put on the whole Armour of God. 63

wound to your, godliness. You will hardly join hearts in a duty,
that cannot join hands in love. Secondly, There are not only
brethren, but servants, a multitude of prophane carnal ones, who
though they never had the names of sons and daughters, yet re-
tain to God's family, and thy heavenly Father will have thee walk
unblameably, yea, winningly to those that are without ; which
that thou raayest do, thou must add to brotherly kindness, charity^
by which grace thou shalt be w illing to do good to the worst of
mpn : When they curse thee, thou must pray for them ; yea, pray
for no less than a Christ, a heaven for them. Father^ fm^give
them, said Christ, while they were raking in his side for his
heart's blood. And truly I am persuaded, the want of this last
piece of armour hath given satan great advantage in these our
times. We are so afraid our charity should be too broad, whereas
in this sense, if it be not as wide as the world, it is too strait for
the command which bids us do good to all. May not we mini-
sters be charged with the want of this ? When the strain of our
preaching is solely directed to the saints, and no pains taken in
rescuing poor captivated souls, yet uncalled out of the devil's •
clutches, who may haul them to hell without any disturbance,
while we are comforting the saints, and preaching their privileges;
but in the mean time let the ignorant be ignorant still, and the
prophane, prophane still, for want of a compassionate charity to
their souls, which would excite us to the reproving and exhorting
of them, that they might also be brought into the way of life, as
well as the saints encouraged, who are walking therein. We are
Stewards to provide bread for the Lord's house ; the greatest part
of our hearers cannot, must not have the children's bread, and
shall we therefore give them no portion at all ? Christ's charity
pitied the multitude, to whom, in his public preaching, he made
special application, as in that famous sermon, most part of which
is spent in rousing up the sleepy consciences of the hypocritical
Pharisees, by those thunder-claps of woes and curses so often de-
nounced against them, Matth. xxiii. »Again, how great advantage
hath satan from the want of this charity in our families ? Is it not
observed how little care is taken by professing governors of such
societies, for the instructing their yOuth ? Nay, it is a principle
which some have dmnk in, that it is not their duty. O where is
their charity in the mean time, when they can see satan come
within their own walls, and let him drive a child, a servant, in
their ignorance and profaneness to hell, and not so much as sally
out upon his enemy by a word of reproof or instruction, to rescue
their silly souls out of the murderer's hands ? We must leave
them to their liberty forsootl;i, and that is as fair play as we can
give the devil ; give but corrupt nature enough of this rope, and
it will soon strangle the very principles of God and religion in
their tender year^.

SECT.

64 Put on the whole Armour of God*

SECT. III. Thirdly, The entireness of the saint's armour may
be taken not only for every part and piece of the saint's furniture,
but for the completeness and perfection of every piece. As the
Christian is to endeavour after every grace, so is he to press after
the advance and increase of every grace, even to perfection itself j
as he is to add to his faith, virtue, so is he to add faith to faith,
he is ever to be completing of his grace. It is that which is fre-
quently pressed upon believers. Matt. v. 48. Be ye perfect as
your heave nil/ Father is perfect , And purify ijourse Ives as God
is pure. Where we have an exact copy set, not as if we could
equal that purity and perfection ivhich is in God, but to make
us strive the more, when we shall see how infinitely short we fall
of our copy when we write the fairest hand. So James i. 3. I^et
patience have its perfect work, that you may be entire^ wanting
nothing^ or wanting in nothing. Thou who makest a hard shift
to carry a little burden with thy little patience, would sink under
a greater ; therefore there is need that patience should be ever
perfecting, lest at last we meet a burden too heavy for our weak
shoulders. Take a few reasons why the Christian should be thus
completing of his grace.

First, Because grace is subject to decay, and thus ever needs
completing ; as in an army, especially one which often engageth
in battle, their arms are battered and broken, one man hath his
helmet bent, another his sword gapt, a third his pistol unfixed ;
and therefore recruits are ever necessary. Jn one temptation,
the Christian hath his helmet of hope beaten off his head, in ano-
ther, his patience hard put to it. The Christian had need
have an armour-shop at hand to make up his loss, and that speed-
ily ; for satan is most like to fall on, when the Christian is least
prepared to receive his charge. Simon^ Simon^ satan hath de-
sired to sift you. He knew they were at that time weakly pro-
vided ; Christ their captain now to be taken from the head of
their troop ; discontents among themselves, striving. who should
be the greatest; and their recruits of stronger grace, which the
spirit was to bring, not yet come. Now he hath a design to sur-
pi'ise them ; and therefore Christ, carefully to prevent him, pro-
miseth speedily to dispatch his spirit for their suppl}'. Acts i. 4.
and in the mean time sends them to Jerusalem, to stand as it
were in a body in their joint supplications, upon their guard,
while he comes to their relief, shewing us in the weakness of our
graces what to do, and whither to go for supply.

Secondly, Because satan is completing his skill and wrath. It
is not for nought that he is called the old serpent, subtle by na-
ture, but more by experience ; wrathful by nature, j^et every day
' more and more enraged : like a bull, the longer he is baited, the
move fury he shews : and therefore we who are to grapple with

him,

Put on the whole Armour of God. ^ 65

him, now his time is sp short, had need come well appointed into
the field.

Thirdly, It is the end of all God's dispensations, to complete
his saints in their graces and comforts. Wherefore doth he lop
and prune by afflictions, but io purge ^ that they viay bring forth
more fruity James v. 2. (that is, fuller and fairer.) Tribulatwn
works patience^ Horn. xv. 3. It is God's appointment for that
end. It works, that is, it encreaseth the saint's patience ; it en-
rageth indeed the wicked, but meekens the saints. It is his de-
sign in the gospel preached, to carry on his saints from faith to
faith, Rom. i. 17. And accordingly he hath furnished the church
with instruments, and those with gifts, for the perfecting of the
saints, and for the edifying of the body of Christ, Eph. iv. 14.
Wherefore doth the scaffold stand, and the workman on it, if the
buildings go not up ? For qs not to advance under such means, is
to make void the counsel of God. Therefore the apostle blames
the Christian Jews, Heb. v. 12, for their non-proficiency in the
school of Christ, When for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye.
have need that one tewh you again which be the first principles
of the orachs of God,

Use, O how few there are who endeavour thus to promote
their spiritual state, and labour to perfect what is yet lacking in
their knowledge, patience, and the rest. First, tell some of ad-
ding faith to faith, one degree of grace to another, and you shall
find they have more mind to join house to house, and lay field to
field : their souls are a- thirst, ever gaping for more, but of what ?
Not of Christ or heaven : it is earth ; earth they never think
they have enough of, till death comes and stops their mouth with
a shovelful digged out of their own grave. W^hat a tormenting
life must they needs have, who are alwaj^s crying for more weight,
and yet cannot pass their covetous desires to death ? O sirs, the
only way (if men would believe it) to quench this thirst to the
cxeature, were to enkindle another after Christ and heaven. Get
but a large heart vehemently thirsting after these, and the other
will die alone ; as the feverish thirst doth, when nature comes to
her temper. Secondly, others labour not thus to perfect grace,
because they have a conceit they are perfect already, and upon
. this fancy throvv away praying, hearing, and all other ordinances,
as strings for those babes in grace to be carried by, who are not
arrived to their high attainments. O what fools does pride make
men ! Truly heaven were no such desivable place, if we should
"be no more perfect than this, a sort of people that are too high for
this world, and too low for another. The way by which God
cures this phrensy of pride, we have in these days seen to be some-
thing like that in Nebuchadnezzar, to give them a heart of a
beast (I mean) for a ti4ne, suffer them to fall iuto beastly prac-

' tices,

66 Put on the whole Ar^iour of God.

tices, by which he shews them how far they are from that perfec-
tion they dreamed of so vainly. Thirdly, others who have true
grace, and desire the advancement of it, yet are discouraged in
their endeavour for more, from too deep a sense of their present
penury. Bid some such labour to get more power of corruption,
more faith on, and love to Gcd, that they maj^ be able to do the
will of God cheerfully, and suffer it in the greatest afflictions pa-
tiently, yea, thankfully, and they will never believe, that they,
whose faith is so weak, and love so chill, and stock so little in
hand, should ever attain to any thing like such a pitch. Yoit
may as well persuade a beggar, with one poor penny in his purse,
that if he will go and trade with that, he shall come to be Lord
Mayor of London before he die. But why, poor hearts, should
.you thus despise the day of small things ? Do you not see a little
grain of mustard-seed spread into a tree, and weak grace com-
pared to it, for its growth at last, as well as littleness at first ?
Darest thou say thou hast no grace at all ? If thou hast but any,
(though the least that ever anj^ had to begin with,) I dare tell
thee that he hath done more for thee in that, than he should in
making that which is now so weak, as perfect as the saints grace
is now in heaven. First, he hath done more, considering it as an
act of power. There is a greater gulph between no grace and
grace, than between weak grace and strong, between a chaos and
nothing, than between a chaos and this beautiful frame of heaven
and earth. The first day's work of both creations is the greatest.
Secondly, considered as an act of grace, it is a greater mercy to
give the first grace of conversion, than to crown that with glory.
It is more grace and condescension in a Prince to marry a poor
damsel, than after having married her, to clothe her like a Prin-
cess : he was free to do the first, or not ; but his relation to her
pleads strongly for the other. God might have chosen whether
he would have given thee grace, or not ; but having done this,
thy relation to him and his covenant also do oblige him to add
more and more, till he hath fitted thee as a bride for himself in
glory.

CHAP. V.

Of the Use of our Spiritual Armour, or the Exercise of Grace.

'T^HE fourth and last branch in the saints furniture is, the use

^ they are to make thereof, Put on the whole Armour of God.

Briefly, what is this duty, Put on ? These being saints (many of

them at least) he writes to, it is not only putting on by conversion,

what

Put on the wJtole Armour of God, 67

^vhat some of them might not yet have ; but also, he means they
should exercise what they have. It is one thing to have armour
in the house, and another thing to iiavc it buckled on ; to have
grace in the principle, and grace in the act. So that the instruc-
tion will be,

Docf. It is not enough to have grace, but this grace must be
kept in exercise. The Christian armour is made to be worn ; no
laying down, or putting off our armour, till we have done our war-
fare, and finished our course. Our armour and our garment of
flesh go off together ; then indeed will be no need of watch and
ward, shield or helmet. Those military duties and field graces
(as I may call faith, hope, and the rest), they shall be honourably
discharged. In heaven we shall appear not in armour, but ia
robes of glory ; but here they are to be worn night and day ; we
must walk, work, and sleep in them, or else we are not true sol-
diers of Christ. This Paul professeth to endeavour. Acts xxiv. 16.
Herein do I exercise myself, to have alwai/s a conscience void of
offence towards God and towards man. Here we have this holy
man at his arms, training and exercising himself in his postures,
like some soldier by himself handling his pike, and inuring him-
self before the battle. Now the reason of this is,

SECT. I First, Christ commands us to have our armour on,

our grace in exercise, Luke xii. 35. Let your loins be girded
nbouty and your lights burning, Christ speaks either in a mar-
tial phrase, as to soldiers ; or in a domestic, as to servants : If as
to soldiers, then let jour loins be girded, and your lights burning,
is, that we should be ready for a march, having our armour on (for
the belt goes over all), and our match-light ready to give fire at
the first alarm of temptation . If as to servants, which seems more
natural, then he bids us (as our master is gone abroad) not through
sloth or sleep put off our clothes, and put out our lights, but stand
ready to open when he shall come, though at midnight. It is not
fit the master should stand at the door knocking, and the servant
within sleeping ; indeed there' is no duty the Christian hath in
charge but implies this daily exercise, Pray^ but how ? without
ceasing, i?(?/o2ce, but when ? evermore. Give thanks, iovwhai^
in every things 1 Thes. v. 16, 17. The shield of faith and hel-
met of hope, we must hold them to the end, 1 Pet. i. 13. The
sum of all which is, that we should walk in the constant exercise
of these duties and graces. Where the soldier is placed, there he
stands, and must neither stir nor sleep till he be brought off.
M^hen Christ comes, that soul only shall have his blessing whom
he finds so doing.

Secondly, Satan's advantage is great when grace is not in ex-
ercise. When the devil found Chiist so ready to receive his
charge, and repel his temptation, he soon had enough j it is said,

E Me

68 Put on the whole Annour of God.

He departed for a season, Luke iv. J 3. as if in his shameful re-
treat he had comforted himself with hopes of surprising Christ
unawares, at another season more advantageous to his design ;
and we find him coming again, in the most likely time indeed to
have attained his end, had his enemy been man, and not God. —
Kow, if this bold fiend did thus watch and observe Christ from
time to time, doth it not behove thee to look about thee, lest he
take thy grace at one time or other napping ? what he misseth
now by thy watchfulness, he may gain anon by thy negligence.
Indeed he hopes thou wilt be tired out with continual duty ;
Surely, saith satan (when he sees the Christian up, and tbrvent in
duty), this will not hold long. When he finds him tender of con-
science, and scrupulous of occasion to sin, This is but for a while,
'ere long I shall have him unbend his bow, and unbuckle his ar-
mour, and then have at him. Satan knows what order thou
keepest in thy house and closet, and though he hath not a key to
thy heart, yet he can stand in the next room to it, and lightly hear
what is whispered there. He hunts the Christian by the scent of
bis own feet, and if once he doth but smell which way the heart
inclines, he knows how to take the hint ; if but one door be un-
bolted, one work unarmed, one grace off its carriage, here is ad-
vantage enough.

Thirdly, Because it is so sore a business, and hard a work, to
recover the activity of grace once lost, and to revive a duty in
disuse : J have put off my coat^ saith the spouse, Cant. v. 3. She
hath given way to a lazy distemper, was laid upon her bed of
sloth, and how hard is it to raise her? Her beloved is at the door,
beseeching her by all the means of love, which might bring to her
remembrance the near relation between them ; wy sister^ my
lovey my dove, open to me : and yet she riseth not : He tells hei-.
His locks are filled with the drops of the night ; yet she stirs
not : What is the matter ? Her coat was off, akid she is loth to
put it on ; she had given way to her sloth, and now she knows
not how to shake it off: She could have been glad to have her
belQved*s company, if himself would have opened the door ; and
he desired as much hers, if she would rise to let him in : and upon
these terms they part. The longer a soul hath neglected duty,
the more ado there is to get it taken up ; partly through shame,
the soul having played the truant, now knows not how to look
God in the face ; and partly from the difficulty of the work,
being double to what another finds, that walks in the exercise of
his grace ; here is all out of order. It requires more time and
pains for him to tune his instrument, than for another to play the
lesson. He goes to duty as to a new work, as a scholar that hath
not looked on his book some while, his lesson is almost out of his
head 5 whereas another that was but even now conning it over,

hath

Pul on the whole Amwur of God. 69

hath it ad miguem. Perhaps 'tis an affliction thou art called to
bear, and thy patience unexercised, little or no thought thou
hast had for such a time (while thou wert frisking in a full pas-
ture), and now thou kickest and flingest, even as a hulkck^ un-
accustomed to the yoke^ Jer. xxxi. 18. Whereas another goes
meekly and patiently under the like cross, because he had been
stirring up his patience, and fitting the yoke to his neck —
Yon know what a confusion there is in a town, at some sudden
alarm in the dead of the night, the enemy at the gates, and they
asleep within, O what a cry is there heard! one wants his clothes,
another his sword, a third knows not what to do for powder ;
thus in a fright they run up and down ; which would not be, if the
enemy did find them upon their guard, orderly waiting for his ap-
proach, ^uch a hubbub theie is in a soul that keeps not his ar-
mour on, this piece and that will be to seek when he should use it.

Fourthly, We must keep grace in exercise in respect of others,
our fellow-soldiers. Paul had this in his eye, when he was ex-
ercising himself to keep a good conscience, that he might not be
a scandal to others. The cowardice of one may make others run ;
the ignorance of one soldier that hath not skill to handle his arms,
may do mischief to his fellow-soldiers about him ; some have shot
their friends for their enemies ; the unwise walking of one pro-
fessor makes many others fare the worse. But say, thou dost
not fall so far as to become a scandal, yet thou canst not be so
helpful to thy fellow-brethren as thou shouldst. God commanded
the Reuhenites and Gadites to go before their brethren ready
armed, until the land was conquered. Thus, Christian, thou art
to be helpful to thy fellow-brethren, who have not (it may be)
that settlement of peace in their spirit as thyself, nor that measure
of grace or comfort : Thou art to help such weak ones, and go
before them (as it were) armed for their defence: Now if thy
grace be not exercised, tbou art so far unserviceable to thy weak
brother. Perhaps thou art a master or parent, whohasta family
under thy wing ; they fare as thou thrivest ; if thy heart be in a
holy frame, they fare the better in the duties thou performest 5
if thy heart be dead and down, they are losers by thy hand. So
that as the nurse eats the more for the babe's sake she suckles,
so shouldst thou, for their sake who are under thy tuition, be
more careful to exercise thy own gmce and cherish it.

SECT. II. Object. O but (may some say) this is a hard work
indeed, our armour never off, our gmce always in exercise. . Did
God ever mean religion should be such a toilsome business as this
would make it ?

Am. Thou speakest like one of the foolish world, and shewest

thyself a mere stranger to the Christian's life that speakest thus.

A burden to exercise grace ! Why, it is no burden to exercise

;a;.'}. u:'. E 2' the

7& Put on the whole At^mour of God.

the acts of nature, to eat, to driuk, to walk, all delightful to us iil
our right temper ; if any of these be otherwise, nature is op-
pressed ; if stuffed, then difficult to breathe ; if sick, then the
meat offensive we eat : So take a sainf in his right temper, 'tis
his joy to be employed in the exercise of his grace in this or that
duty, Ps. cxxii. 1. I was glad when theif said tmto me, Let vs
go unto the house of the Lord: his heart leaped at the motion.
When any occasion diverts him from communion with God,
though he likes it never so well, yet it is unwelcome and unpleas-
ing to him ; as you who are used to be in your shops from morn-
ing to night, how tedious is it for you to be abroad some days,
though among good friends, because you are not where your work
and calling lies ? A Christian in duty is one in his calling, as it
were in his shop, where he should be, yea, where he would be,
and therefore far from being tedious. Religion is so burdensome
to none, as to those who are unfrequent in the exercise of it. Use
makes heavy things light ; we hardly feel the weight of our clothes,
because fitted to us, and worn daily by us ; whereas the same
weight on our shoulder would trouble us. Thus the grievous-
ness of religious duties to carnal ones, is taken away in the saints^
partly by the fitness of them to the saints principles, as also by
their daily exercise in them. The disciples, when newly entered
into the ways of Christ, could not pray much, or fast long; the
bottles were new, and that wine too strong ; but when they had
walked a few years, they grew mighty in both. Dost thou com-
plain that heaven's way is rugged ? Be the ofter walking iu it,
and that will make it smooth.

But^ Secondly, Were this constant exercise of grace more
troublesome to the flesh (which is the only complainer), the sweet
advantage that accrues by this to the Christian will abundantly
recompense all his labour and pains.

First, The exercise of thy grace will increase thy grace ; The
diligent hand maketh rich. A provident man counts that lost
which might have been got, not only when his money is stole out
of his chest, but when it lies there unimproved. Such a commo-
dity (saith the tradesman) if I had bought with that money in
my bags, would have brought me in so much gain, which is now
lost; so the Christian may say. My dawning knowledge, had I
followed on to know the Lord, might have spread to broad day.
I have more understanding j saith David, than all my teachers.
How came he by it ? He will tell you in the next words, /or thy
testimonies are my meditation^ Psal. cxix. 99. He was more in
the exercise of duty and grace. The best wits are not always
the greatest scholars, because their study is not suitable to their
parts; neither always proves he the richest man, that sets up
with the greatest stock. A little grace well husbanded by daily
exercise will increase, when greater, neglected, shall decay.

Secondly,

Put on the whole Armour of God. 71

Secondly, As exercise increasetb, so it evidenceth grace.— r-
Would a man know whether he be lame or no, let hiin rise ; he
will be sooner satisfied by one turn in aroom^ than by a long dis-
pute, and he sit still. Wouldst thou know whether thou lovest
God ? JBe frequent in exerting acts oF love ; the more the fire is
blown up, the sooner it is seen ; and so of all qf her graces. Some-
times the soul is questioning whether it hath any patience, any
faith, 'till God comes and puts him into an afflicted estate (where
he must either exercise this grace, or perish) ; and then it ap-
pears like one that thinks he cannot swim ; yet being thrown into
the river, then uniting ail his strength, he makes a shjft to swinr
to land, and sees what he can do. How oft have we heard
Christians say, I thought I could never have endured such a pain,
trusted God in such a strait : but now God hath taught me what
he can do tor me, what he hath wrought in me j and this thou
raightst have known before, if thou wouldst have often stirred up
jand exercised thy grace.

Thirdly, Exercise of grace doth invite God to communicate
himself to such a soul. God sets the Christian at work, and then
meets him in it. XJp and he doings and tfie Lord be with you.
He sets a soul a-rc;ading, as the eunuch, and then joins to his cha-
riot a praying, and then comes the messenger from heaven. O
Daniel, greatly beloved. The spouse who lost her beloved on
her bedff finds him as she comes from the sermon^ Cant. iii. 4. Jt
was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom
piy soul loved.

SECT. III. — Use 1. This falls heavj^ on their heads, who are
so far from exercising grace, that they walk in the exercise oV
their lusts ; their hearts are like a glass-house, the fire is never
out, the shpp- windows never shut, they are always at work, ham-
mering some wicked project or other upon the anvil of their
hearts ; tliere are some who give scope to their lusts; what their
wretched hearts will, they will have ; they cocker their lusts, as
some their children, deny them nothing, who (as it is recorded of
David to Adonijah) do not so much as say to their souls. Why
dost thou so ? why art thou so proud, so covetous, so prophane ?
They spend their days in making provision tor these guests ; as at
some inns, the house never cools, but as one guest goes out, ano-
ther comes in ; as one lust is served, another is calling for atten-
dance. As some exercise grace more than others, so there are
greater traders nv sin, that set more a-wprk than others, and re-
turn more wrath in a day than others in a month. Happy are such
(in comparison of these), who are chained up by God^s restraint
upon their outward man or inward, that they cannpt drive on so
ffiriously as these, who by health of body, power, and gi*eatuess in
place, riches and treasures in their coffers, numbness and dedc-

72 Put an the whole Armour of Gofl.

lency in their consciences, are hurried on to fill up the measure of
their sins. We read of the Assyrian, that he enlarged his heart
as hell, stretching out his desires, as men do their bags that are
pressed full with money to hold more, Hab. ii. 5. Thus the
adulterer, as if his body were not quick enough to execute the
commands of his lust, stirs it up by sending forth his amorous
glances, which come home laden ivith adultery^ blows up this
fire with unchaste sonnets, and belly-cheer, proper fuel for the
devil's kitchen ; and the malicious man, w ho, that he may lose no
time for his lust, is a-tearing his neighbour in pieces as he lies on
his bed, cannot sleep unless some such bloody sacrifice be offered
to his ravening lust. O how may this shame the saints ! How
oft is your zeal so hot, that you cannot sleep till your hearts have
been in heaven, as you are on your beds, and there pacified with
the sight of your dear Saviour, and some embraces of love from
him ? ;i .

Use 2. It reproves those who flout and mock at the saints,
while exercising their graces ; none so jeered as the saint in his
calling. Men maj'- work in their shops, and every one follow his
calling as diligently as they please, and no wonder made of this
by those that pass by in the streets • but let the Chiistian be seen
at work for God, in the exercise of any duty or grace, and he is
hooted at, despised, yea, hated. Few so bad indeed, but seem to
like religion in the notion! They can commend a sermon of holi-
ness, like a discourse of God or Christ, in the pulpit ; but when
these are really set before their eyes, as they sparkle in a saint*s
conversation, they are very contemptible and hateful to them ;
this living and walking holiness bites ; and though they liked the
preacher's art, in painting forth the same in his discourse, yet now
they run from them, and spit at them j this exercise of grace of-
fends theprophaue heart, and stirs up the enmity that lies within:
as Michal, she could not but flout David, to see him dancing be-
fore the ark. He that commended the preacher for making a
learned discourse of zeal/ will rail on a saint expressing an act of
zeal in his place and calling ; now grace comes too near him. A
naughty heart must stand at some distance from holiness, that the
beams thereof may not bear too strongly on his conscience, and
so he likes it. Thus the Pharisees, the prophets of old, these
were holy meA in their account, and they can lavish out their
money on their tombs in honour of them ; but Christ (who was
more than all of them), he is scorned and hated ; what is the
mystery of this ? The reason was, these prophets are off the stage,.
and Christ on. Pascitur in vivis livor^ post fata quiescit.

Use 3. Try by this whether you have grace or no ; dost thou
walk in the exercise of thy grace ? He that hath clothes, surely
will wear them, and not be seen naked. Men talk of their faith,

repentance^,

Put on the whole Armour of God* 73

repentance, love to God ; these are precious graces, but why do
they not let us see these walking abroad in their daily conversa-
tion ? Surdy if such guests were in thy soul, they would look out
sometimes at the window, and be seen abroad in this duty and
that holy action ; grace is of a stirring nature, and not such a
dead thing (like an image), that you may lock up in a cheat,
and none shall know what God you worship ; no, grace will shew
itself, it will walk with you in all places and companies, it will
buy with you, and sell for you, it. will have a hand in all your
enterprizes ; it will comfort you when you are sincere and faith*>
fill for God, and it will complain and chide you when you arfc
otherwise ; go to, stop its mouth, and heaven shall hear its voice ;
it will groan, mourn, and strive, even as a living man when you
would smother him. 1 will as soon believe the man to be alive,
that lies peaceably, as he is nailed up in his coffin, without strife
or bustle, as that thou hast grace, and never exercise it in any act
of spiritual life. What, man! hast thou grace, and carried so
peaceably, as a fool to the stocks, by thy lust ? Why hangest
thou there, nailed to thy lust ? If thou hast grace, come down and
we will believe it ; but if thou art such a tame slave, as to sit
still under the command of lust, thou deceivest thyself. Hast thou
grace, and shew none of it in the condition thou art placed in ?
May be, thou art rich, dost thou shew thy humility towards those
that are beneath thee ? Dost thou shew a heavenly mind breath-
ing after heaven more than earth ? It may be thy heart is puffed
with thy estate, that thou lookst on the poor as creatures of some
lower species than thyself, and disdainest them, and as for heaven
thou thinkest not of it : like that wicked prince, that said. He
would lose his part in Paradise rather than in Paris. Art tho^
poor, why dost thou not exercise grace in that condition ? Art
thou contented, diligent ? May be, instead of contentation, thou
repinest ; canst not see a fair lace on thy rich brother's cloth,
but grudgest it, instead of concurring with providence by dili-
gence to supply thy wants : Thou art ready to break through the
hedge into thy neighbour's fat pasture, thus serving thy own turn
by a sin, rather than waiting for God*s blessing on thy honest di-
ligence; if so, be not angry should we call thee by thy right name,
or at least question whether we may style thee Christian, w hose
carriage is so cross to that sacred name, which is too holy to be
written on a rotten post.

Use 4. Be exhorted, O ye saints of God, to walk in the exer-
cise of grace. It is the minister's duty, with the continual breath
of exhortation, and, if need be, reproof, to keep this heavenly fire
clear on the saint's altar. Peter saw it necessary to have bel-
lows always in his hands, 2 Pet. i, 12. I will not be negligent to
puti/ou always in rememhrmwe of those things, though ye know

, E I them.

74f Put on the whole Armom^ of God,

them, and he established in the present truth : that shall not take
him off, as long as he is in this tabernacle ; he saith he will stii*
them up, and be putting the7n in remembrance, v. 13. There is
a sleepy disease we are subject to in this life ; Christ, though he
had roused up his disciples twice, yet takes them napping the
third time. Either exercise thy grace, or satan will act thy cpT;-
ruption ; as one bucket goes down, the other riseth ; there is a
body of sin within, which, like a malignant party, watcheth lor
such a time to step into the saddle, and 'tis easier to keep them
down than to pull them down. Thy time is short and thy way
long ; thou hast best put on, lest thou meanest to be overtaken
with night before thou gettest within sight of thy Father's house.
How uncomfortable 'tis for a traveller in heaven-road (above all
other) to go potching in the dark, many can with aching hearts
tell thee ! And what hast thou here to mind like this ? Are they
worldly cares and pleasures ? Is it wisdom to lay out so much
cost on thy tenement, which thou art leaving, and forget what
thou must carry with thee ? Before the fruit of these be ripe
which thou art now planting, thyself may be rotting in thy grave.
*Time is shot^t^ saith the Apostle, I Cor. vii. 29. The worldjis
near its port, and therefore God hath contracted the sails of man's
life but a while, and there will not be a point to choose whether
we had wives or not, riches or not, but there will be a vast differ-
ence between those that had grace, and those that had not ; yea,
between those that did drive a quick trade in the exercise thereof,
and those that were more remiss ; the one shall have an abundant
entrance into glory^ 2 Pet. i. 11. \yhile the other shall suffer loss
in much of his lading, which shall be cast over-boaid as merchan-
<lize that will bear no price in that heavenly country ; yea, while
thou art here, others shall fare the better by thy lively graces.
Thy cheerfulness and activity \q thy heavenly course will help
others that travel with thee ; he is dull indeed that will not put
on, when he sees so much metal for God in thee who leadest the
way. Yea, thy grace will give a check to the sins of others, who
never stand in such awe, as when grace comes forth and sits like
a ruler in the gate, to be seen of all that pass by. The swearer
knows not such majesty is present, when the Christian is mealy-
mouthed, and so goes on and fears no colours; whose grace, had it
but her dagger of zeal ready, and courage to draw it forth in a
wise reproof, would make sin quit the place, and with shame run
into its hole. Job xxix. 8. T^e i/oung men saw me, and hid them-
selves ; the princes refrained talking^ and laid their hand on
their mouth. And doth not God deserve the best service thou
canst do, him in thy generation ? Did he give thee grace to lay it
iip as d^ad stock, and none to be the better ? Or can you say,
^hat he jis wanting to you ia his love and mercy ? Are they not

That ye may he able to standi S^c, 75

ever in exercise for your good? Is the eye of providence ever
jjiut? No, He slumbers not that keeps thee ; or is it one moment
off thee? No, T/ie eye of the Lord is upon the righteous i he
hath fixed it for ever, and with infinite delight pleaseth himself in
the object. When was hij? ear shut, or his hand, either fron^ re-
ceiving thy cries, or supplying thy wants ? Nay, doth not thy
condition take up the thoughts of God, and are they any other
than thoughts of peace which he entertains ? A few drops of this
oil vvill keep the wheel in motion.

■v»>^»^vv^*^^^*^»*^<^

That ye may he able to stand against the Wiles of the Devil,

'"■pHESE words present us >vith a reason, why the Christian
•*■ soldier is to be thus completely armed. That he may he able
to stand against the wiles of the devil. The strength of which
argument lies in these two particulars.

First, The danger, if unarmed ; the enemy is no mean con-
temptible one, no less th3,n the devil, set out as a cunning engi-
neer by his wiles and stratagems.

Secondly, The certainty of standing against all his wits ^nd
wiles, if we be thus armed. That ye may be able to stand. As
na standing without armour, so no fear of falling into the fiend^s
hands, if armed.

To begin with' the firet, the saints enemy, the devil, described
by his wiles, properly the methods of satan, which signifies that
art and order one observes in handling a point ; we say, Such a
one is methodical : Now because it shews ingenuity and acuteness
of wit so to compose a discourse, therefore it is transferred to ex-
press the subtilty of satan in laying of his plots and stratagems,
in his warlike preparations against the Christian. Indeed the
expert soldier hath his order as well as the scholar ; there is me-
thod in forming of an army, as well as framing au argument. The
note which lies before us is,

Doct. The devil is a very subtle enemy. The Christian is en-
dangered most by his policy and craft ; he is called the old ser-
pent. The serpent : subtle above other creatures, an old serpent
above other serpents ; Satan was too crafty for man in his per-
fection, much more now in his maimed estate, having never reco-
vered that first crack he got in his understanding by the fall of
Adam. And as man hath lost, so satan hath gained more and
more experience ; he lost his wisdom indeed as soon as he became
a devil, but ever since he hath increased his craft ; though he
hath not wisdom enough to do himself good, yet subtilty enough
j<f do Qthers hurt. Qod shews ns v^here his strength lies, when

-.-'■■'_ .lie

7G That t/e may he able to stand

he promiseth lie will bruise the head of the serpen!t ; his head
crushed, and he dies presently. Now, in handling this point of
Satan's subtilty, we shall consider him in his two main designs,
and therein shew you his wiles and policies. His first main de-
sign is, to draw into sin. The second is to accuse, vex, and
trouble the saint for sin. First, Let us consider the devil as a
tempter to sin, and there he shews his wily subtilty in three
things.
First, In choosing the most advantageous season for tempting.
Secondly, In managing his temptations, laying them in such a
method and form, as shews his craft.

Thirdly, In pitching on fit instruments for his turn, to carry
^n faifi design.

CHAP. I.

Of Satan's Subtilty to choose out the most advantageous Seasons

for tempting,

■piRST, He shews his subtilty, in choosing the most proper and
•*- advantageous seasons for tempting. Tb every thing there is
a season^ Solomon saith, Eccles. iii. 1. that is, a nick of time,
which taken, gives facility and speedy dispatch to a business :
and therefore the same wise man gives this reason, why man mis-
carries so frequently, and is disappointed in his enterprizes, fre-
cause he knows not his time, Eccl. ix. 11. ; he comes when the
bird is flown. A hundred soldiers at one time may turn a battle,
or save an army, when thousands will not do it at another. Sa-
tan knows when to make his approaches, when (if any time) he is
most likely to be entertained. As Christ hath the tongue of the
learned to speak a word in season of counsel and comfort, to a
doubting drooping soul, so satan shews his black art, and hellish
skill, in speaking words of seduction and temptation in season ;
and a word in season is a word on its wheels. I shall give you a
view of his subtilty in special seasons, which he chooseth to tempt
in*

1 . The first season he takes to tempt in is, when newly con-
verted. No sooner is this child of grace, the new creature, bom,
but this dragon pours a flood of temptation after it. He learnt
the Egyptians but some of his own craft, when he taught them
that bloody and cruel baptism, which they exercised upon the
Israelitish uabes, in throwing them into the river as soon as they
were born. The first cry of the new creature gives all the legions
of hell an alarm : they are much troubled at it, as Herod and Je-
rusalem

Against the Wiles of the Devil. 77

rusalem were, when Christ was born ; -and now they sit in coun-
cil to take away the life of this new-bom King. The apostles
met with more opposition and persecution in their latter days,
when endued with large portions of the spirit ; but with tempta-
tions from satan in the former, when young converts, as you may
observe in the sevei-al passages recorded of .them. Satan knew
grace within was but weak, and their supplies promised at the
spirit's coming, not landed ; and when is an enemy more like to
carry the town than in such a low condition ? and therefore he
tries them all. Indeed the advantages are so many, that we may
wonder how the young convert escapes with his life ; knowledge
weak, and so soon led into an error, especially in divided times ;
when matiy ways are held forth, one saying. Here is Christ ; ano-
ther, There is Christ ; and the Christian ready to think eveiy
one means honestly that comes with good words ; as a little child
that hath lost his way to his father's house, is prone to follow
any that offer him their conduct. Experience of what he knoTiTs
little ; and if Adam, whose knowledge was so perfect, yet was
"Tsoon cheated (being assaulted before he was well warm in his
new possessions), how much more advantage hath satan of the
new convert ? in whom he finds every grace in so great an indis-
position to make resistance, both from its own weakness, and the
strength of the contrary corruption (which commonly in such is
much nn mortified), which makes it act with more difficulty and
mixture, as in a fire newly kindled, where the smoke is more
than the flame ; or like beer newly tunned, which runs thick ; so
that though there appear more strength of affection in such, that
it works over into a greater abundance of duty than in others,
yet with more dregs of carnal passion, which satan knows, and
therefore chooseth to stir what he sees troubled already.

2. Secondly, When the saint is beset with some great afflic-
tion, this is as some blind lane or solitary place, fit for this thief
to call for his purse in. An expert captain first labours to make
a breach in the wall, and then falls on in storming the city. Sa-
tan first got power from God to weaken Job in his estate, chil-
dren, health, and other comforts he had, and now tempts him to
impatience, and what not ? He lets Christ fast forty days before
he comes, and then he falls to his work : as an army stays till a
castle be pinched for provision within, and then sends a parley,
never more likely to be embraced than in such a strait. A temp-
tation comes strong, when the way to relief seems to lie through
the sin that satan is wooing to. When one is poor, and satan
comes, What, wilt thou starve rather than step over the hedge,
and steal for thy supply ? this is enough to put flesh and blood to
the stand.

3. Thirdly, When the Christian is about some notable enter-

prize

78 That ye may he able to stand

prize for God's glory, then satan will lie like a, serpent in tha
way, an adder in the path^ that biteth his horse^s heels, so that
his rider shall fall backward. Thus he stood at Joshua's right
baud to resist him. The right hand is the working hand, and
his standing there implies his desire to hinder hiiii in his enter-
prize. Indeed the devil was never a friend to temple work, an4
therefore that work is so long a-doing. What a handsome ex-
cuse doth he help the Jews unto. The time is not come : God*s
time was come, but not the devil's ; and therefore he helps them
to this poor shift, perverting the sense of providence, as if it were
not time, because they were so poor; whereas they thrive no
better, because they went no sooner about the work, as God tells
them plainly. Paul and Barnabas had a holy design in their
thoughts to go visit the brethren in every city, and strengthen
their faith : the devil knew what a blow this might give to his
kingdom, their visiting might hinder him in his circuit, and he
stirs up an unhappy difference between these two holy men, who
grow so hot that they part in this storm. Acts xv. 30. There
were two remarkable periods of Christ's life, his intrat and exit^
Ms entrance into his public ministry at his baptism, and his finish-
ing it at his passion ; and at both we have the devil fiercely en-
countering him. The more public thy place, Christian, and the
more eminent thy service for God, the more thou must look that
the devil will have some more dangerous design or other against
thee ; and therefore if every private soldier needs armour against
Satan's bnllets of temptation, then the commanders and officers,
who stand in the front of battle, much more.

4. Fourthly, When he hath the presence of some object to en-
force his temptation. Thus he takes Eve when she is near the
tree, and had it in her eye, while he should make the motion, that
assaulting two ports at once, it might be the harder for her to hin-
der the landing of his temptation ; and if Eye's eyes did so soon
aflect her heart with an inordinate desire, then much more now
is it easy for him by the presence of the object, to excite and ac^
tuate that lust, which lies dormant in the heart. As Naomi sent
Jier daughter to lie at Boaz's feet, knowing well, if he endured
her theie, there was hope tliat he might take her into his bed at
jast : If the Christian can let the object come so near, satan will
promise himself his suit may in time be granted. Therefore it
should be our care, if we would not yield to the sin, not to walk
hy, or sit at the door of the occasion : Look not on that beauty
with a wandering eye, by which thou wouldst not be taken pri-
soner; parley not with that in thy thoughts, which thou meanest
not to let into thy heart : conversation begets affection ; some by
this have been brought to mairy those, whom at first they thought
they could not have liked,
' ■ 5, Fifthly^

Agaimt the Wiles of the Devil, 79

5. rifthly, After great manifestations of God's love, then the
tempter comes. Such is the weak constitution of grace, that it
can neither bear smiles nor frowns from God, without a snare ;
As one said of our English nation, It cannot well bear liberty nor
bondage in the height : So neither can the soul ; if God smile
and open himself a little familiarly to us, then we are prone to
grow high and wanton : if he frown, then we sink as mucn in our
faith ; thus the one, like fair weather and warm gleams, brings
up the weeds of corruption ; and the other, like sharp frosts, nips
and even kills the flowers of gi ace. The Christian is in danger
t)n both hands ; therefore satan takes this advantage, when the
Christian is flush of comfort ; even as a cheater, who strikes in
with some young heir, when he hath newly received his rents,
and never leaves till he hath eased him of his money ; thus satan
lies upon the catch, to inveigle a saint into one sin or another,
ivhich he knows will soon leak out his joy. Had ever any a lar-
ger testimony from heaven than Peter, Matth. xvi. 17. where
Christ pronounceth him blessed, and puts a singular honour upon
him, making him the representative for all his saints. No doubt
tliis favour to Peter stirred up the envious spirit sooner to fall
upon him. If Joseph's party-coloured coat made the patriarchs
to plot against him their brother, no wonder malice should prompt
satan to shew his spite, where Christ had set such a mark of love
and honour ; and therefore we find him soon at Peter's elbow,
hiakirig him his instrument to tempt his master, who soon espied
his cloven feet, and rebukes Peter with a Get thee behind me^
satan. He that seemed a rock even now, through satan's po-
licy is laid a stone of offence for Christ to stumble at. So David,
when he had received such wonderful mercies, settled on his
throne with the ruin of his enemies, yea, pardoned for his bloody
isin, now ready to lay down his head with peace in the dust ; sa-
tan chops in to cloud his clear evening, and tempts him to num-
ber the people ; so ambitious is satan, then chiefly to throw the
saint into the mire of sin, when his coat is cleanest.

6. Sixthly, At the hour of death, when the saint is down and
prostrate in his bodily strength, now this coward falls upon him :
'tis the last cast indeed he hath for the game, now or never, over-
come him now and ever. As they say of the natural serpent. He
is never seen at his length till dying, so this mystical serpent ne-
ver strains his wits and wiles more, than when his time is thus,
short. The saint is even stepping into eternity, and now he
treads upon his heel, which if he cannot trip up, so as to hinder
his arrival in heaven, 5^et at least to bruise it, that be may go
with more pain thither.

CHAP.

80 ThcU ye may be able to stand

CHAP. II.

Satan^s Suhtilty in managing his Temptations^ where several
Stratagems used by him to deceive the Christian are laid dmvn,

2. npHE second way wherein satan shews his tempting subtilty,
* is, in those stratagems he useth to deceive the Christian
in the act of temptation.

First, He hangs out false colours, and comes up to the Chris-
tian in the disguise of a friend, so that the gates are open to him,
and his motions received with applause, before either be disco-
vered ; therefore he is said to transform himself into an angel of
lights 2 Cor. xi. 14. Of all plots 'tis most dangerous when he
appears in Samuel's mantle, and silvers his foul tongue with fair
language. Thus in point of error, he corrupts some in their judg-
ment, by commending his notions for special gospel-truths, and,
like a cunning chapman, puts off his old ware (errors I mean that
have laid long upon his hand), only turning them a little after
the mode of the times, and they go for new light ; under the skirt
of Christian liberty, he conveys in libertinism ; by crj^ing up the
spirit, he decries and vilifies the scripture ; by magnifying faith,
he labours to undermine repentance, and blow up good works ;
by bewailing the coiTuption of the church in its administration,
he draws unstable souls from it, and arauseth them, till at last
they fall into a vertigo^ and can see no church at all in being.
And he prevails no less on the hearts and lives of man by this
wile, than on their judgments. Under the notion of zeal, he
kindles sometimes a dangerous flame of passion and wrath in the
heart, which, like a rash fire, makes the Christian's spirit boil
over into unchristian desires of, and prayers for revenge, where
he should forgive, of which we have an instance in the disciples,
liuke ix. 55. where two holy men are desiring that fre may
come down from heaven. Little did they think from whence they
had their coal that did so heat them, till Christ told them. Ye
]cnmv not what spirit ye are of. Sometimes he pretends pity and
natural afiection, which in some cases may be good counsel, and
all the while he desires to promote cowardice and sinful self-Jove,
whereby the Christian may be brought to fly from his colours,
shrink from the truth, or decline some necessary duty of his cal-
ling : this his wile Christ soon spied, when he got Peter to be his
spokesman, saying, Master^ pity thyself ; who stopt his mouth
with that sharp rebuke, Get thee behind me^ Satan, O what
need have we to study the scriptures, our hearts, and satan 's
wiles, that we may not bid this enemy welcome, and all the while

think it is Christ that is our guest !

A second

Against the Wiles of the Devil, SI

A second policy he useth is, to get intelligence of the saints
affairs. This is one great wheel in the politician's clock, to have
spies in all places, by whom they are acquainted with the coun-
sels and motions of their enemies^ and this gives them advantage,
9^ to disappoint their designs, so more safely to compass their
o^wn. "i'is uo hard matter for him to play his game well that
sees his enemy's hand. David knew how the squares went at
court, Jonathan's arrows carried liira the news, and accordingly
he removed his quarters, and was too hard for his great enemy
Saul. Satan is the greatest* in telUgeucer in the world : he makes
it his business to inquire into the inclinations, thoughts, affections,
pur|x>ses of the creature, that finding which humour abounds, he
may apply himself accordingly — which way the stream goes, that
he may open the passage of temptation, and cut the channel to
the fall of the creature's affections, and not force it against the
torrent of nature. Now if we consider but the piercing appre-
hension of the angelic nature, how quick he is to take the scent
which way the game goes, by a word dropt, the cast of an eye,
or such a small matter (signal enough to give him the alarm) * his
experience in heart-anatomy, having inspected and (as it were)
dissected so many in his long practice, whereby his knowledge is
much perfected ; as also his great diligence to add to both these,
being as close a student as ever, consideiing the saints, and study-
ing how he may do them a mischief, as we see in Job*s case,
whom he had so well observed, that he was able to give an an-
swer at once to God, what Job's state and present posture was,
and what might be the most probable means of obtaining his will
of him ; and besides all this, the correspondence that he hath
with those in and about the Christian; from ^ whom he learns
much of his state, as David by Hushai in Absalom's council :
All these considered, 'tis almost impossible for the creature to stir
out of the closet of his heart, but it will be known whithfi' he
inclines ; some corrupt passion or other will bewray the soul to
him, as they did David to Saul, who told him where he might find
him, in the wilderness of £lngedi^ 1 Sam. xxiv.^1. Thus will
these give intelligence to satan, and say. If thou wouldst supply
such a one, he is gone that' way ; you shall have him in the wood
of worldly employments, over head and ears in the desires and
cares of this life ; see where another sits under such a bower, de-
lighting himself in this child, or that gift, endown)ent of mind, or
♦the like ; lay but the lime-twig ther^, and you shall soon have
him in it. Now satan having this intelligence, let him alone to
act his part ; he sure cannot be at a. loss himself, when his scho-
lars (the Jesuits I mean) have such agility of mind, to wreath
and cast th^selves into any form becoming the persons they
would seduce. Is ambition the lust the heart favours ? O the
• \.^ pleasing

#

4

82 That ye may he Me to stand

pleasing projects that he will put such upon I How easily, having
first blown them up with vain hopes, doth he draw them into'
horrid sins ? Thus Haman, that he may have a monopoly of his
Prince's favour, is hurried into that bloody plot (fatal at last to
himself) against the Jews. Is uncleanness the lust after which
the creature's eye wanders ? Now he will be the pander, to bring
him and his minion together. Thus he finding Amnon sick of
this disease, sends Jouadab, a deep-pated fellow , 2 Sam. xiii. 3.
to put this fine device into his head, of feigning himself sick,
whereby his sister fell into his snare.

Thirdly, In his gradual approaches to the soul. When he
comes to tempt, he is modest, and asks but a little ; he knows
he ^ay get that at many times, which he should be denied if he
asked all at once. A few are let into a city, when an army com-
ing in a body should be shut but ; and therefore that he may be-
get no suspicion, he presents, may be, a few general propositions,
which do not discover the depth of this plot ; these, like scouts,
go before, while his whole body lies hid, as it were, in some swamp
at hand. Thuahe wriggled into Eve's bosom, whom he doth not
at first dare bid take and eat ; no, he is more mannerly than so ;
this would have been so hideous, that as the fish with some sud-
den noise, by a stone cast into the river, is scared from the bait,
so would she have been aflVighted from holding parley with such
a one ; no, he propounds a question vVhich shall make way for
this, Ilatli God said ? Art not mistaken ? Could this be his
meaning whose bounty lets thee eat of the rest, to deny thee the
best of all ? Thus he digs about, and loosens the roots of her
faith, and then the tree falls the easier the next gust of tempta-
tion. This is a ^dangerous policy indeed ! Many have yielded to
go a mile with satan, that never intended to go two ; but when
once on the way, have been allured further and further, till at last
they know not how to leave his company. Thus satan leads
poor creatures dow^n into the depths of sin by winding stairs, that
let them not see the bottom whither they are going : First, he
presents an object that occasions some thoughts, these set fire on
the affections, and these fume up into the brain, and cloud the
understanding, w hich being thus disabled, now satan dares a little
more declare himself, and boldly solicit the creature to that it
would even now have denied. Many who at this day lie in open
prophaneness, never thought they should have rolled so far from
their profession ; but sata* beguiled them, poor souls, with thei»
modest beginnings. O Christians, give not place to satan, no not
an inch in his first motions ; he that is a beggar, and a modest one
without doors, will command the house if let in ; yield at first, and
thou givest away thy strength to resist him in the^st ; when the
hem is worn, the whole garment will ravel out, if that be not
mended by timely repentance,

^ The

Against the Wiles of the Devil, 83

The fourth way, wherein satan shews his subtilty in managing
his temptations, is in his reserves. A wise captain hath ever some
fresh troops at hand to fall in at a pinch, when the others are
worsted. Satan is seldom at a loss in this respect ; when one
temptation is beat back, he soon hath another to fill up the gap,
and make good the line. Thus he tempts Christ to diffidence
and distrust, by bidding him turn stones into bread, as if it were
time now to carve for himself, being so lon^ neglected of his Fa-
ther, as to fast forty days, and no supplies heard of ; no sooner
had Christ quenched this dart with that, It is written^ Man shall
not live by bread alone^ but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God, Matth. iv. 4, 5. but he had another on the
string which he let fly at him, tempting him to presumption, v. 5-
Then the devil taketh and sets him on a pinnacle^ and bids.
Cast thyself down headlong , for it is written^ He shall give his
angels charge over thee^ &:€. As if he had said. If thou hast
such confidence on God and his word as thou pretendest, shew it
by casting thyself down, for thou hast a word between thee and
the ground, if thou darest trust God : And truly, though Christ
had his answer ready, and was prepared to receive his charge ou
the right hand and on the left, being so completely armed, that no
temptation could come amiss; yet note we, satan's temptations ou
Christ were like the serpent's motion on a rock (of which Solo-
mon speaks), that leaves no impression, no dent at all, Prov. xxx.
19. But on us they are as a serpent on sand or dust, that leaves
a print, when not in the heart, yet in the fancy, colours that
which is next door to it, and so the object there is ready to slip
in, if great care be not observed, especially when he doth thus
change his hand, as when we have resisted one way, fall on afresh
another, yea, plant his succeeding temptation upon our very resis-
tance in the former. Now it requires some readiness in our pos-
tures, and skill at our weapons, to make our defence ; like a dis-
putant, when he is put out of his road, and hath a new question
started, or argumAit unusual brought, now he is ti'ied to purpose.
And truly this is satan's way ; when he tempts tli,e Christian to
neglect of the duty of God's worship (from his worldly occasions,
the multitude of them, or necessity of following them), and this
''takes not, then he is on the other side, and is drawing the Chris-
tian to the neglect of his worldly calling, out of a seeming zeal to
promote his other in the worship of God. Or first, he comes and
kbours to deaden the heart in duty ; ^xkt the Christian is too
watchful for him there : then he is puffing of him up with an
opinion of his enlargement in it, and ever he keeps his sliest and
most sublimated temptations'for the last.

Fifthly, In J|^ politic retreats. You shall have an enemy flee
vi3 overconic, luicn it is on a design of ovexcoming ; this was Jo-

F shuu'3

84 That ije maif he able to statid

shua*s wile, by which he catched the men of Ai in a trap, Josh,
iii. 1. We read not only of satan's being cast out, but of the un--
clean spiriVs going out (voluntarily), yet with a purpose to come
again, and bring worse company with him, Matt. xii. 43. Satan
is not always beat back by the dint and power of conquering grace,
but sometimes he draws off, and raiseth his own siege, the more
handsomely to get the Christian out of his fastnesses and trenches,
that so he may snap him on the plains, whom he caunot come at
in his works and fortifications. Temptations send the saint to
his castle, as the sight of the dog doth the coney to her burrow :
Now the soul walks the rounds, stands upon its guard, dares not
neglect duty, because the enemy is under its very walls, shooting
in his temptations continually ; but when satan seems to give the
soul over, and the Christian finds, he is not haunted with such
motions as formerly, truly now he is prone to remit in his dili-
gence, fail in his duty, and grow either unfrequent or formal
therein ; as the Romans, whose valour decayed for want of the
Carthaginian troops to alarm them. Let satan tempt, or not
tempt, assault, or retreat, keep thou in order, stand in a fighting
posture; let his ffight strengthen thy faith, but not weaken thy
care. The Parthians do their enemies most hurt in their flight,
shooting their darts as they run ; and so may satan do thee, if thy
seeming victory makes thee secure.

*'ww***'**»'>%^w*^*'**'v»'v

CHAP. III.

Of Salaries Siibtilti/ in choosing Instruments Jit for his Turn to
carry on his terflpting Design.

3. np^IIE third particular in which satan shews his subtilty, as a
* tempter, is in the choice of those instruments whom he
useth for the carrying on this his design : he as»the master- work-
man cuts out the temptation, and gives it the shape, but sometimes
he hath his journeymen to make it up; he knows his work may
be carried on better by others, when he appears not above-board
himself. Indeed there is not such a suitableness between the an-
gelical natuie and man's, as there is between one man and ano-
ther ; and therefore he cannot make his approaches so familiarly
to us, as man can do to man ; and here (as in other things) he is
God's ape. You know this very reason was given why the Is-
raelites tlesired God might not speak to them, but Moses, and
dod liked the motion; Tkey have. well said., saitli God, I tvill
raise up a Prophet from the midst of them like unto thee., Deut.
^viii. If. Thus satan, he useth the ministry w men like our-
selves,

Against the Wiles of the DeviL 85

selves, by which, as he becomes more familiar, so he is less suspec-
ted, while,,Joab like, he gets another to do his errand. Now 'tis
not any will serve his turn for this employment, he is very choice
in his instruments he pitcheth on : *Tis not every soldier is fit for
an embassage to treat with an enemy, to betray a town, and the
like. Satan considers who can do his work to his greatest ad-
vantage ; and in this he is unlike God, who is not at all choice in
his instruments, because he needs none, and is able to do as well
with one as another ; but satan's power being finite, he must
patch up the defect of the lion's skin with the fox's. Now the
persons satan aims at for his instruments, are chiefly of four sorts.
First, Persons of place and power. Secondly, Persons of parts
and policy. Thirdly, Persons of holiness, or at least reputed so.
Fourthly, Persons of relation and interest.

First, Satan makes choice of persons of place and power.
These are either in the commonwealth or church: if he can, he
will secure the throne and the pulpit, as the two forts that com-
mand the whole line. First, Men of power in the common-
wealth ; 'tis his old trick to be tampering with such. A Prince,
a Ruler, may stand for a thousand ; therefore saith Paul to Ely-
mas, w'hen he would have turned the deputy from the faith : O
full of all subtilf^j^ thou child of the devil ! Acts xiii. H* As if
he had said, you have learnt this of your father the devil, to haunt
the courts of Princes, wind into the favour of great ones. There
is double policy satan hath, in gaining such to his side. First,
none have such advantage to draw others to their way ; corrupt
the captain, and it is hard if he bring none of his troop with him.
When the princes, men of renown in their tribes, siood with
Corah, Numb. xvi. 2, 10. presently a multitude are drawn into
the conspiracy. Let Jeroboam set up idolatry, and Israel is soon
in a snare ; it is said the people willingly walked after his com-
viandment, Hos. v. 11. Secondly, should the sin stay at court,
and the infection go no further, yet the sin of such a one (though
a good man) may cost a whole kingdom dear, 1 Chron. xxi. 1.
Satan stood up against Israel ,^ and provoked David to number
the people. He owed Israel spite, and he pays them home in
their King's sin, which dropt in a fearful plague upon their heads.
Secondly, such as are in place and office in the church. No such
way to infect the whole town, as to poison the cistern at which
they draw their w^ater. Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go
to Bamoth-Gilead and fall ? Satan can tell : I will he a lying
sjyivit in tlU mouth of his prophets, 2 Kings xxii. 21 . How shall
the prophane be hardened in their sins? Let the preachers sew
pillows under their elbows, and cry peace, peace, and it is done.
How may the worship of God come to be neglected? LetHophni
and Phineas be but scandalous in their lives, and many both good
and bad will abhor the sacrifice of the Lord,

F % Secondly,

86 ^ Thai ye may he able to stand

Secondly, He employeth persons of parts and policy : if any
hath more pregnancy of wit, and depth of reason than others, he is
the man satan looks upon for his service ; and so far he prevails^
that very few of this rank are found amongst Christ's disciples.
Not many wise. Indeed God will not have his kingdom, either
in the heart, or in the world, maintained by carnal policy ; 'tis a
gospel command, that we walk in godly simplicity, sine plicts ;
though the serpent can vshrink up into his folds, and appear what
he is not, yet it doth not become the saints to juggle or shuffle
with God or men ; and truly when any of them made use of the
serpent's subtilty, it hath not followed their hand ; Jacob got the
blessing by a wile, but he might have had it cheaper with plain
dealing. Abraham and Sarah both dissemble to Abimelech ; God
discovers their sin, and reproves them for it by the mouth of an
heathen. Asa out of state-policy joins league with Syria, yea,
pawns the vessels of the sanctuary, and all for help^ and what
comes of all this ? Herein tJiou hast done foolishly, saith God,
from henceforth thou shalt have wars. Sinful policy shall not
long thrive in the saint's hands well ; but satan will not go out of
his way, he enquires for the subtilest-pated men, a Balaam, Ahi-
tophel, Aaman, Sanballat, men admired for their counsel and deep
plots, these are for his turn. A wicked cause needs a smooth
orator, bad ware a pleasing chapman ; as in particular, his instru-
ments he useth to seduce and corrupt the minds of men, are com-
monly subtile-pated fellows, such, that^ if it were possible^ would
deceive the very elect. This made the apostle so jealous of the
Corinthians, whom he had espoused to Christ, lest, as Eve by the
serpent, so their minds should be cotrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ, He* must be a cunning devil indeed, that can
draw off the spouse's love from her beloved, yet there is such a
witchery in satan's instruments, that many have been brought to
fly in the face of those truths and ordinances, yea, Christ himself,
to whom they have seemed espoused formerly. Now in three
particulars, this sort of satan's instruments shews their master's
subtilty.

First, In aspersing the good name of the sincere messengers of
Christ, satan's old trick, to raise his credit upon the ruined repu-
tation of Christ's faithful servants. Thus he taught Corah, Da-
than, and Abiram, to charge Moses and Aaron, Ye take too much
iiponyou^ seeing all the congregation is holy^ Numb. xvi. 3, 16*
They would make the people believe, that it was the pride of "J
their heart, to claim a monopoly to themselves, as if none but
Aaron and his fraternity were holy enough to offer incense, and
by this subtile practice, they seduced (for a while) in a manuer the
whole congregation to their side. So the lying prophets (that
were satan's knights of die post to Ahab) fell foul on good Mi-

caiah.

Against the Wiles of the DeviL 8?

oaah Our Saviour himself was no better handled by the Pha-
risees and theii- confederates; and Paul, the chief of the apostles,
his ministry undermined, and his reputation blasted by false
teachers, as if he had been some weak sorry preacher, % Cor. x 10.
Mis bodily presence is weak^ say they, and his speech contempt
tibl^ ; and is this your admired man ?

Secondly, In covering their impostures and errors with choic«
notions, and excellent truths. Arius himself, and other danger-
ous instruments of satan, were too wise to stuff their discourses
with nothing but heterodox matter ; precious truths dropt from
them, with which they sprinkled theii" corrupt principles, yet
with such art as should not easily be discerned. 'Ihis (as one ob-
serves) our Saviour warns his disciples of, when he bids them be-
ware of the leaven of the l^harisees (that is, of their en-ors.) Eut
why leaven ? For the secret mixture of it with the wholesome
bread ; you do not make your bread all of leaven, none would
then eat it, hat crumble a little of it into a whole batch, which
sours all. Thus Christ doth tell the disciples, that the Pharisees
among lumiy truths mixed their errors, and therefore it behoves
them to beware, lest, with the truth, the error goes dx)wn also.
Again, leaven is very like the dough, of the sara^ grain with it,
only differs in age and sourness : thus Christ intimates the resem-
blance of their errors to the truth, scraped, as it were, out of the
scriptures, but soured with their false glosses. This indeed makes
it easy for Christ's sheep to be infected with the scab of error,
because that weed which breeds the rot is so li)ie the grace that
nourisheth them.

Thirdly, Their subtilty appears in holding forth auch prin-
ciples as are indulgent to the ilesh. 'I his brings in whole shoals
of silly souls into their net, the heart of man loves a life to shape
a religion according to his own humour, and is easy to believe
that to be a truth which favours its own inclination. Now there
are three lusts that satan's instruments labour to gratify in their
doctrine. Carnal reason, pride, and fleshly liberty.

First, Carnal reason ; this is the great idol whigh the more in-
telligent part of the world worship, making it the very standard
^ of their faith, and from this bitter root have sprung those Arian
and Socinian heresies. And truly he that will go no further than
reason wiil carry him, may hold out in the plain way of the mo-
jal law, but when heco^nes to the depths of the .gospel, must either
go back, or be content that faith shall help reason over.

Secondly, Another lust that satal^ cockors, Pride. Man natul
rally would be a God to himself (though by clambering so high
he got his fall) ; and whatever doctrine nourisheth a good opi-
nion of man in his own eye, this is acceptable to him, and this
hath spawned another fry of dangerous errors. The Pelagian

F 3 an<3

88 That ye may he able to stand

and Semi-Pelagian, which set nature upon its own legs, and per-
suade man he can go alone to Christ, or at least with a little ex-
ternal help, of an hand to lead, or argument to excite, without any-
creating work in the soul. O, we cannot conceive how glib such
stuff goes down ! If one workman should tell you that your house
is rotten, and must be pulled down, and all new materials pre-
pared ; and another should say no such matter, such a beam is
good, and such a spar may stand, a little cost w^ill serve the turn;
it were no wonder that you should listen to him that would put
you to the least cost and trouble : The faithful servants of Christ
tell sinners from the word, that man in his natural state is cor-
rupt and rotten, that nothing of the old frame will serve, and there
must needs be all new ; but in comes the Arminian, and blows up
the sinner's pride, and tells him he is not so weak or wicked as
the other represents him ; if thou wilt, thou mayest repent and
believe, or at least, b}' exerting thy natural abilities, oblige God
to superadd what thou hast not. This is the workman that will
please proud men best.

Thirdly, Satan by his instruments nourisheth that desire of
fleshly liberty, which is in man by nature, who is a son of Belial,
without yoke ; and if he must wear any, that will please best
which hath the softest lining, and pincheth the flesh least ; and
therefore when the sincere teachers of thewoid will not abate the
strictness of the command, but press sincere obedience to it, then
Gome Satan's instruments and say. These are hard task-masters,
who will not allow one play-day in a year to the Christian, but
tie him to continual duty, we will shew you an easier way to hea-
ven : Come, saith the Papist, confess but once a year to the priest
(pay him well for his pains), and be an obedient son of the church,
and we will dispense with all the rest. Come, saith the I'amilist,
the gospel-charter allows more libei*ty than these legal preachers
tell you of; they bid you repent and believe ; when Christ hath
done all these to your hand, what have you left to do but to nou-
rish the flesh ? Something sure is in it, that impostors find such
quick return for their ware, while truth hangs upon the log ; and
is it not this ? that they are content to aifoid heaven cheaper to
their disciples, than Christ wall to his. He that sells cheapest
shall have the most customers, though at last best will be best
cheap; Truth with self denial, abetter pennyworth, than error
with all its flesh-pleasing.

Fourthly, Satan makes choice of such as have a great name for
holiness; none like a live bird to draw other birds into the net; but
is it possible that such should do this work for the devil ? Yes,
such is the policy of satan, and the frailty of the best, that the
most holy men have been his instruments to seduce others. Abra-
ham, he tempts his wife to lie, Say thou art luy sister. The old

prophet

Against the Wiles of the DeinL 89

pophet leads the man of Cod out of his way, 1 Kings xiii. The
holiness of the raan, and the reverence of his age, 'tis like, gave
authority to his counsel. O how should this make you watchful,
whose long travel and great progress in the ways of Gcd have
gained you a name of eminenoy in the church, what you say, do,
or hold, because you are file-leading men, and others look more
on you than their way !

Fifthly, Satan chooseth such, as by relation or affection have
deep interest in the, persons he would gain. Some will kiss the
child for the nurse's sake, an<l like the present for the hand that
brings it. "Fis likely David would not have received that from
Nabal, which he took from Abigail, and thanked her. Satan sent
the apple by Eve's hand to Adam. Dalilah doth more with Sam-
son, than all the Philisti-ues' bands. Job's wife brings him the
poison, Curse God, and die. Some think satan spared her life,
when he slew his children and servants (though she was also with-
in his commission), as the most likely instrument, by reason of
her relation and his affection, to lead him into temptation. Satan
employs Peter the disciple to tempt Christ; at another time his
friends and kinsfolk. Some martyrs have confessed, the hardest
work they met withal, was to overcome the prayers and tears of
their friends and relations ; Paul himself could not get off this
snare without heart-breaking, What, meq^n you to weep^ and to
break my heart ? Acts xxi. 13,

•^^V^ V% WW%^ %'-%%''% V%'«'%'W'^^

CHAP. IV.

J f herein thi^ Point of Saian'^s SuhtiUy,, as a Tempter to SifJ^ is

briejii/ applied.

Use 1. f^IRST, Affect not sinful policy and subtilt}^, it makes
-*- you but like the devil. There is the wisdom of the
serpent, which is commended, ^nd that is his perfection as a crea-
ture, in which both the literal and the mystical excel, the one iii
an ingenious observing nature, above the beasts of the field ; and
the other, knowledge above other men ; but as tlie subtilty of the
one, and knowledge of the other is degenerate, and makes thewi
n ore able to do mischief, the one to the bodies, the other to the
^ouls of men, this kind of wisdom and subtilty is to be abhorred
by us : The strpent^s eije (as one saith) does dwell only in the
^ove*3 head.

First, Affect not subtilty in contriving any .sin. Some 2it^wise
to do eril^ Jer. iv. 22. Masters of this crdft, who can, as they
iie on their beds, cast their wicked designs into an artificial me^

F \ thod^

90 Ithat ye mat/ he able to stand

tliod, shewing a kind of devilish wit therein, as the Egyptians,
who dealt wisely (as they thought) with the Israelites, and Jeze-
bel, who had printed her bloody design in so fair a letter, that some
might read her saint, while she was playing the devil. This is the
black art indeed, and will make the soul as black as hell that prac-
tiseth it. It is not hard for any (though a fool) to learn. Be
but wicked, and the devil will help thee to be witty : Come but a
while to his school, and thou mayest soon be a cunning man. No
sins speak a higher attainment in wickedness, than those which
are the result of deliberate counsel and deep plottings. Creatures
as they go longer with their young, so their birth is more strong
and perfect ; as the elephant above all others. The longer a sin
is a forming and forging within, and the oftner the head and heart
meet about it, the completer the sin. Here are many litters of
unformed sin in one ; such I mean, that are conceived and cast
forth in the hurry of an extemporary passion j such sudden acts
shew weakness, these other deep wickedness.

Secondly, Take heed of hiding sin when thou hast committed
it. This is one of the devices that are in man's heart, and as much
art and cunning is shewn in this, as in any one part of the sinner's
trade. What a trick had the patriarchs to blind their father's eye
with a bloody coat ? Joseph's mistress, to prevent a charge from
Joseph, accuseth him for what she is guilty, like the robber who
escaped by crying out Stop the thief. God taught man to make
coats to cover his naked body, but t!ie devil learned him to weave
these coverings to hide the nakedness of his soul ; the more subtile
thou seemest in concealing thy sin, the more cgregiously thou
playest the fool. None so ashamed as the liar when found out,
and that thou art sure to be. Thy covering is too short to hide
thee from God's eye, and what God sees (if thou dost not put
thyself to shame), he will tell all the world of hereafter, however
thou escapestin this life.

Thirdly, Take heed of subtil ty and sinful policy. In compassing
that which is lawful in itself: 'Tis lawful to improve thy estate,
and husband it well for thy posterity ; but take not the devil's
counsel, who will be putting thee upon some tricks in thy trade,
and slights in thy dealing ; such may go for wise men a while,
but the prophet reads their destinies, Jer. xvi. 11. At his end
lie shall he a fool, 'Tis lawful to love our estate, life, liberty ;
but beware of sinful policy to save them. 'Tis no wisdom to
shuffle with God, by denying his truth, or shifting off our duty
to keep correspondence with men; he is a weak fencer that lays
his soul at open guard to be stabbed and wounded with guilt,
while he is lifting up his hands to save a broken head. Our fear
commonly meets us at that door b}^ which we think to run from
it. He that tvill save his life shall lose it. As you love your

peace^

Against the Wiles of the Devil, 9t

peace, Christians, be plainhearted with God ai;d man, and-keep
the King's highway ; go the plain way of the command to obtaia
thy desire, and not leap over hedge and ditch to come a litlle
sooner to the journey's end ; such commonly either meet with
some stop, that makes them come back with shame, or else put
to venture their necks in some despei-ate leap. He is sure to
come safer (if not sooner) home, that iswilh'ng to go a little about
to keep God company. The historian's observation is worth the
Christian's remembrance : Consilia caUiila priwa specie lata,
tractatu dura^ eventu tvistia^ Liv. Crafty counsels promise fair
at first, but prove more difficult in the managing, and in the end
do pay the undertaker home with desperate sorrow.

ijse 2, Is Satan so subtile ? O then think not to be too cunning
for the devil ; he will be too hawi for thee at last ; sin not with
thoughts of an after repentance ; it is possible thou meanest this
at present : but dost thou think, who sits down to play with this
cheater, to draw out thy stock when thou pleasest ? Alas, poor
wretch, he has a thousand devices to carry thee on, and engage
thee deeper, till he hath not left thee any tenderness in thy con-
science ! As some have been served at play, intending only to
venture a shilling or two, yet have, by the secret witchery of
g-aming, played the very clothes oiF their back before they had
done ! O how many have thus sinned away all their principles,
yea, profession itself, that they have not so much as this cloak
left, but walk naked to their shame I Like children who get into
a boat, think to play near the shore, but are unawares by a vio-
lent gust carried down to the wide sea. O how know you, that
dally with satan, but that at last you may (who begin modestly)
be carried down to the broad sea of prophaneness ? ^'omemen are
so subtile to over-reach, and so cruel when they get men into their
hand, that a man had better beg his bread than boxrow of them.
Such a merchant is satan, cunning to insinuate, and get the crea-
ture into his books, and when he hath him on the hip, r.o more
mercy to be Iwd at his hand, than the lamb may expect from the
ravenous wolf.

Use 3. Study his wiles, and acquaint thyself with satan's po-
licy. Paul takes it for granted, that every saint doth in the same
measure understand them ; iVe are not ignorant of Im devices,
2 Cor. ii, 11. He is but an ill fencer that knows nothing of his
enemy's play ; many particular stratagems I have laid down al-
ready which may help a little ; and for thy direction in this study
of, and inquiry into satan's wiles, take this threefold counsel.

First, Take God into thy counsel : heaven overlooks hell. God
at any time can tell thee, what plots aie hatching there against
thee. Consider £,atan, as he is God's creature, so God cannot but
know him. He that makes the watch, knows every pin in it.

He

92 That ye may he able to stand

He formed this crooked serpent, though not the crookedness of
this serpent ; and though satan's way of tempting be as wonderful
as the way of a serpent on a rock, yet God traceth him ; yea,
knows all his thoughts together. Hell itself is naked before him^
and the destroyer hath no covering. Again, consider him as
God's prisoner, who Jiath him fast in chains ; and so the Lord,
who is his keeper, must needs know whither his prisoner goes,
who cannot stir without his leave. Lastly, consider him as his
messenger ; for so he is. An evil spirit from the Zuord vexed
Saul y and he that gives him his errand, is able to tell thee what
it is. Go then and plow with God's heifer ; improve thy in-
terest in Christ, who knows what his Father knows, and is ready
to reveal all that concerns thee to thee, John xv. 15. It was he
who described the devil coming against Peter and the rest of the
apostles, and faithfully revealed it to them, Luke xxii. before they
thought of any such matter. Through Christ's hands pass all
that is transacted in heaven and hell. We live in days of great
actions, deep counsels, and plots on all sides, and only a few that
stand on the upper end of the world know these mysteries of state;
all the rest know little more than pamphlet intelligence : Thus it
is in regard of those plots which satan in his infernal conclave is
laying against the souls of men ; they are but a few that know
any thing to purpose of satan's designs against them ; and those
are the saints from whom God cannot hide his own counsels of
love, but sends his spirit to reveal unto them here, what he hath
prepared for them in heaven, 1 Cor. ii. 10. and therefore much
less will he conceal any destructive plot of satan from them.

Secondly, Be intimately acquainted with thine own heart, and
thou wilt the better know his design against thee, who takes his
method of tempting from the inclination and posture of thy heart.
Asa general walks about the city, and views it well, and then
laiseth his batteries, where he hath the greatest advantage : so
floth satan compass, and consider the Christian in every part bc-
foie he tempts.

jjastly, iie careful to read the Vv'ord of God with observation.
In it thou hast the history of tl>e most remarkable battles that
have been fought by the most eminent worthies in Christ's army of
vsaints, with tlie great warrior satan : Here thou mayest see how
satan hath foileil them, and how they have recovered their lost
ground. Here you have his cabinet-counsels opened. There is
liot a lust which you are in danger of, but you have it described,
not a lemptatiou which the word doth not arm you against. Jt
is reported that a certain Jew should have poisoned Luther, but
was happil}^ prevented by his picture that was sent to Luther,
^vith a warning from a faithful friend to take heed of such a man
vvlien he saw him, by which he knew the murderer, and escaped

hi^

i

Against the Wiles of the I>eviL 93

liis hands. The word shews thee, O Christian, the face of those
lusts, which sataa employs to butcher thj precious soul; By thepi
is thy servant warned^ saith David, Psal. xix. 11.

CHAP. ^V.

Wherein is shewed tlie Suhtilty of Satan^ as a Troubler^ and an
Accuser for Sin : where many of his Wiles and Policies to
disquiet the Saints^ Spirits are discovered.

'T^HE second general in which satan appears such a subtile ene-
-* my, is, in molesting the saint's peace, and disquieting the
saint's spirit. As the Holy Spirit's work is not only to be a sanc-
tifier, but also a comforter, whose fruits are righteousness and
peace ; so the evil spirit, satan, is both a seducer unto sin, and an
accuser for sin, a tempter and a trojibler, and indeed in the same
order. As the Holy Ghost is first a sanctifier, and then a com-
forter ; so satan first a tempter, then a troubler. Joseph's mis-
tress first tries to draw him to gratify her lust ; that string break-
ing, she had another to trounce him and charge him ; and for a
piea, «he hatii Jiis coat to cover her malice, nor is it hard for sa-
tan to pick some hole in the saint's coat, even when he walks most
circumspectly. The pioj^er seat of sin is the will ; of comfoit,
the conscience ^ Satan hath not absolute knowledge of or power
over these (being locked up from any other but God), and there-
fore what he doth, either in defiling temptations, or disquieting,
is by wiles moi-e than by open force, and he is not inferior in troubr
ling, to himself in tempting. Satan hath, as the serpent, a way
by himself; other beasts, their motion is direct, right on, but the
serpent goes askew (as we say), so winding and wreathing its
body, that when you see a serpent creeping along, yon can liardlv
discern which way it tends ; thus satan in his vexing temptations
hath many intricate policies, turning this way and that way, the
better to conceal his designs from the saint, which will appear in
these followiag methods.

SECT. J. — First, He vexeth the Christian by laying his brats
at the saint's door, and charging him with that which is his own
creature; and here he hath such a notable art, that many dear
saints of God are wofully hampered, and dejected, as ii" they
were the vilest blasphemers, and veriest atheists in the world ;
whereas indeed the cup is of his own putting into the sack, but
so slily conveyed into the saint's bosom, that the Christian, though
amazed and affrighted at the sight of them, yet being jealous of
his own heart, and unacquainted with satan's tricks of this kind,

canngt

^4 That ye may he able to stand

cannot conceive how such motions should come there (if not bred
in, and vomited out by his own naughty heart), and so bears the
blame of the sin himself, because he cannot find the right father,
mourning as one that is forlorn and cast off by God, or else (saith
be) I should never have such vermin of hell creeping in my bo-
som : and here satan hath the end he proposcth ; for he is not so
adlly as to hope he should have welcome with such a horrid crew of
blasphemous and atheistical thoughts, in that soul, where he hath
been denied when he came in an enticing way ; no, but his de-
sign is by way of revenge, because the soul will not prostitute it-
self to his lust otherways, therefore to haunt it and scare it with
those imps of blasphemy. As he served Luther, to w|iom he ap-
peared, and when repulsed by him went away, and left a noisome
stench behind him in the room. Thus when the Christian had
woreted satan in his more pleasing temptations, being maddened,
he belched forth his stench of blasphemous motions to annoy and
affnght him, that from them the Christian may draw some sad con-
clusion or other; and indeed the Christian's sin lies commonly
more in the conclusion which he draws from them (as that he is
not a child of God), than in the motions themselves. All the
counsel therefore I shall give thee in this case, is to do with these
motions, as you use to serve those vagrants and rogues that come
about the country ; whom, though you cannot keep from passing
through the town, yet you look they settle not there, but whip
them and send them to their own home. Thus give these mo-
tions the law, in mourning for them, resisting of them, and they
shall not be your charge (yea, 'tis like you shall seldomer be
troubled with such guests) ; but if once you come to entertaii^
them, and be satan's nurse to them, then the law of God will cast
them upon you.

SECT. II. — ^Secondly, Another wile of satan, as a troubler, i^
in aggravating the saint's sins (against which he hath a notably
declamatory faculty), not that he hates the sin, but the saint ;
now in this, his chief subtilty is so to lay his charge, that it may
jiceni to be the act of the Holy Spirit ; he knows an arrow out
of God's quiver wounds deep ; and therefore when he accuseth,
he comes in God's name ; as suppose a child were conscious t^
himself of displeasing his father^ and one thfit owes him a spite
(to trouble him) should counterfeit a letter from his father, and
cunningly convey it into the son's hand, who receives it as from
his lather, wherein he chargeth him with many heavy crimes, dis-
owns him, and threatens he shall never come in his sight, or have
a peany portion from him ; the poor son (conscious to himself of
many undlitlful carriages, and not knowing the plot) takes on
heavily, and can neither eat nor sleep for grief; here is a real
trouble begot from a false and imaginary ground : Thus satan ob-
serves

Against the Wiles of the Devil. ^5

serves how the squares go between God and his children ; such a
saint he sees tardy in his duty, faulty in that service, and he
knows the Christian is conscious^ of this, and that the spirit of
God will also shew his distaste for these, both which prompt
satan to draw a charge at length, raking up all the bloody aggra-
vations he can think of, and giving it in to the saint as sent from
God. Thus he taught Job's friends to pick up those infirmities,
which dropt from him in his distress, and shoot them back in his
face, as if indeed they had been sent from God to declare him an
hypocrite, and denounce his wrath for the same.

Quest. But Ju)w should we know the false accusations of satan
from the rebukes of God and his spirit f

Answ. First, If they cross any former act or work of the spirit
in thy soul, they are satan's, and not the Holy Spirit's. Now you
shall observe, satan's scope in accusing the Christian, and aggra-
vating his sin, is to unsaint him, and persuade him he is but an
hypocrite. O, saith satan, now thou hast shewn what thou art,
see what a spot is on thy coat, this is not the spot of a child ;
who ever, that was a saint, committed such a sin after such a sort?
All thy comforts and confidence which thou hast bragged of, weiT.
false, I warrant you. Thus you see satan at one blow dasheth all
in pieces. The whdle fabrick of grace, which God hath been
rearing up many years in the soul, must now, at one puff of his
malicious mouth, be blown down, and all the sweet comforts with
which the Holy Ghost hath sealed up God*s love, must be de-
faced with this one blot, which satan dsaws over the fair copy of
the saint's evidence. Well, soul, for thy comfort know, if ever
the spirit of God hath begun a sanctifying or comforting work,
causing thee to hope in his mercy, he never is, will, or can be
the messenger to bring contrajry news to thy soul ; his language
is not yea a^d nay, but yea, and amen for ever. Indeed when the
saint plays the wanton, he can chide, yea, will frown, and tell the
soul roundly of its sin, as he did David by Nathan : Thou art'
the mnUy this thou hast done, and paints out his sin with such
bloody colours, as made David's heart melt, as it were into so
many drops of water; but that shall not serv^e his turn ; he tells
him what a rod is steeping for him (that shall smart to purpose) ;
one of his own house, no other than his darling son, shall rise up
against him, a child, a saint, when he shall know what it is to
have his beloved child traitorously invade his crown, and unna-
turally hunt for his precious life : j^et not a word all this while is
heard from Nathan teaching David to unsaint himself, and call in
question the work of God in his soul. No, he hath no such com-
mission from God, he was sent to make him moum for his sin,
not from his sin to question his state, which God had so oft put
out of doubt.

Secondly,

96 That ye may he able to stand

Secondly, When they asperse the riches of God's grace, and so
, charge the Christian, that withal they reflect upon the good name
of God, then they are not of the Holy Spirit, but from satan.
When you find your sins so represented and a.ggravated to you, as
exceedhig either the mercy of. God's nature, or the grace of his
covenant, Htc se aperit diabolus ; this comes from the foul liar.
The Holy Spirit is Christ's spokesman to commend him to souls,
and to woosinners to embrace the grace of the gospel ; and can
such words drop from these sacred lips, as should break the match,
and sink Christ's esteem in the thoughts of the creature ? You
may know where this was minted. When you hear one com-
mend another for a wise and good man, and at last come in with
a but that dasheth all, you will easily think he is no friend to the
man, but some sly enemy, that by seeming to commend, desires
to disgrace the more : Thus when you find God represented to
you as merciful and gracious, but not to such a great sinner as
you ; to have power and strength, but not able, to save thee j you
may say, Avaunt satan, thy speech bevvrayeth thee.

SECT. III. — Thirdly, Another wile of satan lies in cavilling
at the Christian's duties and performances, by which he puts him
to much toil and trouble. He is at the church as soon as thou
canst be. Christian, for thy heart ; yea, he stands under thy clo-
set-window, and heareth what thou sayest to God in secret, all
the while stud3ang how he may commence a suit against thee for
thy duty ; like those that come to sermons to carp and catch at
what the preacher saith, that they may make him an oflfender for
some word or other misplaced : or like a cunning opponent in the
schools, while his adversary is busy in reading his position, he m
studying to confute it ; and truly satan hath such an art at this,
that he is able to take our duties in pieces, and so disfigure them
that they should appear formal, though never so zealous ; hypo-
critical, though enriched with much sincerity. \^ hen thou hast
done thy duty. Christian, then stands up this'sophister to ravel out
thy work ; There (will he say) thou playedst the hypocrite, zea-
lous, but serving thyself; here wandering, there nodding ; a little
farther, puffed up with pride ; and what wages canst thou hope
for at God's hands, now thou hast spoiled his work, and cut it all
out into chips ? Thus he makes many poor souls lead a weary
life ; nothing they do but he hath a fling at, that they know not
whether best pray or not, hear or not ; and when they have prayed
and heard, whether it be to any purpose or not : Thus their souls
hang in <loubt, and their days pass in sorrow, wiiile their enemy
stands in a corner, and laughs at the cheat he hath put upon them ;
as one, who by putting a counterfeit spider into the dish, makes
those that sit at table either out of conceit with the meat, that
they dare not eat, or afraid of themselves if they have eaten, kst
they should be poisoned with their meat.

Jgaittsi the JViles of the Devil. 97

Quest, But you will say. What will you have m to do in this
case^ to withstand the cavils of satan, in reference to our duties?

Amsw. 1. First, Let this make thee more accurate in all thou
doest J 'tis the very end God aims at in suffering satan thus to
watch you, that you his children might be the more circumspect,
because you have one overlooks you, that will be sure to tell tales
of you to God, and accuse thee to thy own self. Doth it not be-
hove thee to write thy copy fair, when such a critic reads and
scans it over ? Doth it not concern thee to know thy heart well,
to turn over the scriptures diligently, that thoii mayest know the
state of thy soul-controversy in all the cases of conscience thereof,
when thou hast such a subtile opponent to reply upon thee ?

Secondly, Let it make thee more humble. If satan can charge
thee with so much in thy best duties, O what then can thy God
do ? God suffers sometimes the infirmities of his people to be
known by the wicked (who are ready to check and frump them
for them), for this end, to humble his people ; how much more
low should these accusations of satan, which are in a great part
too true, lay us before God ?

Thirdly, Observe the fallacy of satan's argument, which dis-
covered, will help thee to answer his cavil : the fallacy is double.

First, He will persuade thee that thy duty and thyself are hy-
pocritical, proud, formal, &c. because something of these sins are
to be found in thy duty : Now, Christian, learn to distinguish be-
tween pride in a duty, and a proud duty, hypocrisy in a person,
and an hypocrite ; wine in a man, and a man in wine. The best
of saints havethe stirrings of such corruptions in them, and in their
services ; these birds will light on Abraham's sacrifice; but com-
fort thyself with this, that if thou findest a party within thy bo-
som, pleading for God, and entering its protest against these, thou
and thy services a,re evangelically perfect. God beholds these in
the weaknesses of thy sickly state here below, and pities thee, as
thou wouldst do thy lame child: How odious is he to us that
mocks one for natural defects, a blear eye, or a stammering
tongue ! Such are these in thy new nature. Observable is that
in Christ's prayer against satan, Zech. iii. 3. The Lord said
unto satan. The Lord rebuke thee, is not this a brand plucktd
out of the fire 9 As if Christ had said. Lord, wilt thou suffer this
envious spirit to vex thy poor child with, and charge him for
those infirmities that cleave to his imperfect state? he is but newly
plucked out of the fire, no wonder there are some sparks unquen-
ched, some corruption unraortified, some disorders unreformed in
his place and calling. And what Christ-did for Joshun, he doth
incessantly for all his saints, apologizing fo^- their infirmities witli
Lis Father.

Secondly, His other fallacy is, in arguing from the sin that is

ia

98 That ye may be able to stand

in our duties, to the non-acceptance of them. Will God, saitli
he, thinkest thou, take such broken groats at thy hand ? Is he
not a holy God ? Now here (Christian) learn to distinguish and
answer satan. There is a double acceptance. There is an ac-
ceptance of a thing by way of payment of debt, and there is an
acceptance of a thing offered as a token of love, and testimony of
gratitude. He that will not, accept of broken money, or half the
sum for payment of a debt ; the same man, if his friend sends him,
though but a bent sixpence, in token of his love, will take it kindly.
*Ti3 true (Christian) the debt thou owest to God, must be paid
in good and lawful money, but (for thy comfort) here Christ is
the paymaster ; send satan to him, bid him bring his charge a-
gainst Christ, who is ready at God's right hand to clear his ac-
counts, and shew his discharge for the whole debt ; but now thy
pesformances and obedience come under another notion (as to-
kens of thy love and thankfulness to God), and such is the graci-
ous disposition of thy heavenly Father, that he accepts thy mite :
Love refuseth nothing that love sends. 'Tis not the weight or
worth of the gift, but the desire of man is his hindiiess^ Prov.
xix. 22.

SECT. IV. — 4. A fourth wile of satan as a troubler, is, to
draw the saint into the depths of despair, under a specious pre-
tence of not being humbled enough for sin. This we find singled
ont by the apostle for one of the devil's fetches, We are not igno-
rant (saith he) of kis devices^ 2 Cor. ii. 11. his sophistical rea-
sonings. Satan sets much bj^ this slight ; no weapon oftner in his
hand: Where is the Christian that hath not met him at this door?
Here satan finds the Christian easy to be wrought on, the hu-
mours being stirred to his hand, while the Christian of his own
accord complains of the hardness of his heart, and is very prone
to believe any who comply with his musing thoughts; j^ea^ thinks
every one flatters him, that would persuade him otherwise. 'Tis
easier to dye that soul into black, which is of a sad colour already,
than to make such a one take the lightsome tincture of joy and
comfort.

Quest, But how shall I answer this subtle enemy ^ when he thus
perplexeth my spirit^ ivith fiot being humbled ttiovgh for sin^ 8tc.

Afisiv, I answer as to the former ; labour to spy the fallacy of
his argument, and his mouth is soon stopt.

First, Satan argues thus : There ought to be a proportion be-
tween sin and sorrow ; but there is no proportion between thy
sins and thy sorrow; therefore thou aut not humbled enough.
W^hat a plausible argument is here, at first blush ? For the major,
that there ought to be a proportion between sin and sorrow, this
satan will shew you scripture for. Manasseh was a great sinner,
and an ordinary sorrow will not serve his turn ; he humbled him^

Aga/imt the Wiles of the Devil. 99

self greatlif before the Lord^ 1 Chron. iii. 12. Now (saith sat an)
weigh thy sin in the balance with thy sorrow ; art thou as great
a mourner as thou hast been a sinner ? So many years thou hast
waged war against the Almighty, making havock of his laws,
loading his patience till it groaned again, raking in the sides of
Christ with thy bloody dagger (while thou didst grieve his spirit,
and reject his grace) ; and dost thou think a little remorse (like
a rolling cloud letting fall a few drops of sorrow) will now be ac-
cepted ? No, thou must steep in sorrow, as thou hast soaked in
sin. Now, to shew you the fallacy, we must distinguish of a
two-fold proportion of sorrow.

First, An exact proportion of sorrow to the inherent nature and
demerit of sin.

Secondly, There is a proportion to the law and rule of the gos-
pel. Now the first is not a thing feasible, because the injury done
in the least sin is infinite, because done to an infinite God ; and if
it could be feasible, yet according to the tenour of the first cove-
nant, it would not be acceptable ; because it had no clause to
give any hope for an after-game by repentance ; but the other,
which is a gospel sorrow, this is indeed repentance rmto life.
Acts V. 31. Zech. xii. 10. (both given by the spirit of the gospel,
and to be tried by the rule of the gospel.) This is given for thy
relief ; as you see sometimes in the high- way (where the waters
are too deep for travellers), you have a foot-bridge or causey, by
which they may escape the flood, and safely pass on ; so that
none but such as have not eyes, or are drunk, will venture to go
through the waters, when they may avoid the danger. Thou art
a dead man, if thou thinkst to answer thy sin with proportionable
sorrow j thou wilt soon be above thy depth, and quackle thyself
with thy own tears, but never get over the least sin thou com-
mitedst ; go not on therefore as thou lovest thyself, but turn aside
to this gospel-path, and thou escapest the danger. O you tempted
souls, when satan saith you are not humbled enough, see where
you may be relieved ; / am a Iiomanj(ssath Paul), I appeal to
Ccesar, , I am a Christian (say), I appeal to Christ's law ; and
what is the law of the gospel concerning this ? Heart-sorrow is
gospel-sorrow ; They were pricked in their hearty Acts i. 37.
and Peter (like an honest chirurgeon) will not keep these bleed-
ing patients longer in pain with their wounds open, but presently
claps on the healing plaister of the gospel. Believe in the Lord
Jesus. Now a prick to the heart is more than a wound to the
conscience. The heart is the seat of life. Sin wounded there
lies a-dyiug. To do any thing from the. heart, makes it accept-
able, Eph. vi. 6. 2 Cor. v. 11. Now, poor soul, hadst thou
sat thus long in the devil's flocks, if thou hadst understood this
aright ? Doth thy heart clear or condemn thee when in secret tboa

G ' art

100 That ye may he able to stand

art bemoaning thy sin before God ? If thy heart be false. I cannot
help you, no not the gospel itself j but if sincere, thou hast bold-
ness with God, 1 John iii. 21.

A second argument satan useth, is this : He whose sorrow falls
short of theirs, that never truly repented, he is not humble enough :
But, soul, thy sorrow falls short of some, that never truly repented ;
Urgo. Well, the first proposition is true, but how will satan prove
his minor ? Thus Ahab, he took on for his sin, and went in sack-
cloth. Judas he made bitter complaint. O (saith satan) didst
thou not know such a one that lay under terror of conscience, walk-
ing in a sad mournful condition so many months, and every one
took him for the greatest convert in the country ; and yet he
at last fell foully, and proved an apostate ; but thou never didst
feel such smart, pass so many weary nights and days in mourning
and bitter lamentations as he hath done, therefore thou fallest short
of one that fell short of repentance. And truly this is a sad stumb-
ling block to a soul in an hour of temptation ; like a ship sunk in
the mouth of the harbour, which is more dangerous to othei-s than
if it had perished in the open sea. There is less scandal hy the
sins of the wicked, who sink (as it were) in the broad sea of pro-
phaneness, than in those who are convinced of sin, troubled in con-
science, and miscarry so near the harbour, within sight, as it were,
of saving grace. Tempted souls can hardly get over these ^vith-
out dashing. Am 1 better than such a one that proved nought at
last ? Now to help thee a little to find out the fallacy of this ar-
gument, we must distinguish between the terrors that accompany
sorrow, and the intriusical nature of his grace. The first which
are accessary may be separated from the other, as the raging of
the sea, which is caused by the wind upon the sea, when the wind
is down. From this distinction take two conclusions.

First, One may fall short of an hypocrite in the terrors that
sometimes accompany sorrow, and yet have the truth of this grace,
which the other with all his terrors wants. Christians run into
many mistakes, by judging rather according to that which is ac-
cessar)^, than that which is essential to the nature of duties and
graces. Sometimes thou hearest one pray v/ith a moving expres-
sion (whilst thou can hardly get out a few broken words in a du-
ty), and thou art ready to accuse thyself and to admire him ; as
if the gilt of the key made it open the door the better ; thou seest
another abound with joy which thou wantest, and art ready to con-
clude his grace more, and thine less, whereas thou mayest have
more real grace, only thou wantest a light to shew thee where it
lies. Take heed of judging by accessaries : perhaps thou hast not
Iieard so much of the rattling of the chains of hell, nor in thy con-
science the out-cries of the damned, to make thy flesh tremble :
but hast thou not seen that in a bleeding Christ which hath made

thi

Against the Wiles of the Devil. 101

thy heart melt and mourn, yea, loath and hate thy lusts more than
the devil himself? Truly (Christian) 'tis strauge to hear a patient
complain of the physician, when he finds his physic work effectu-
ally, to the evacuating of his distempered humours, and the restor-
ing his health, merely because he was not so sick as some others
with the working of it ; soul thou hast more reason to be blessing
God that the convictions of the spirit wrought so kindly on thee,
to effect that in thee, without those terrors, which have cost others
so dear.

Secondly, This is so weak an argument, that contrarywise the
more the teiTors are, the less the sorrow is for sin while they re-
main : These are indeed preparatory sometimes to sorrow ; they
go before this grace, as austere John before meek Jesus. But as
John went down when Christ went up, his increase was John's
decrease ; so as true godlj^ sorrow goes up, there terrors go down.
As the wind gathers the clouds, but those clouds seldom melt into
a set rain, until the wind falls that gathered them : so these terrors
raise the clouds of our sins in our consciences, but when these sins
melt into godly sorrow, this lays the storm presently ; indeed, as
the loud winds do blow away the rain, so these terrors do keep off
the soul from this gospel sorrow. While the creature is making an
outcry, 'tis damned, 'tis damned, it is taken up so much with the
fear of hell, that sin as sin (which is the proper object of godly
sorrow) is little mourned for. A murderer, condemned to die, is
so possest with the fear of death, and thought of the gallows, that
there lies the slain body (it may be) before him, unlamented by
him ; but when his pardon is brought, then he can bestow his
tears freely on his murdered friend. They shall look on him
whom they have pierced^ and mown. Faith is the eye, this eye
(beholding its sin piercing Christ, and Christ pardoning its sin)
effects the heart, the heart affecting sighs ; these inward clouds
melt and run from the eye of faith in tears ; and all this is done
when there is no tempest of terror upon the spirit, but a sweet
serenity of love and peace ; and therefore. Christian, see bow sa-
tan abuseth thee, when Jie would persuade thee thou art not hum-
bled enough, because thy sorrow is not attended with these illegal
terrors.

CHAP. VI.

A brief Application of the second Branch of the Pointy viz. Of
Satan's Subtil ft/ as a Troubler and Accuser for Sin..

Use 1. IS Satau so subtile to trouble the saints' peace ? This
-*• proves them to be the children of sat an, who shew the

c 2. same

102 Tliatye may he able to stand

same art and subtilty in vexing the spirit of the saints, as doth
their infernal father ; not to speak of bloody persecutors, who
are the devil's slaughter slaves to butcher the saints ; but of those
who more slily trouble and molest the saints' peace.

First, Such as rake up the saints' old sins, which God hath for-
given and forgotten (merely to grieve their spirits and bespatter
their names) ; these shew their devilish malice indeed, who can
take such pains to travel many years back, that they may find a
handfnl of dirt to throw on the saint's face. Thus Shemi twitted
David, Come out^ thou hloody man^ 1 Sam. i. 6.7. When you
that fear God meet with such reproaches, answer them as Beza
did the Papist*, who for want of other matter charged him for
some wanton poems penned by him in his youth. Hi homuticiones.
invident miki gratiam Dei* These men, said he, grudge me the
pardoning mercy of God.

Secondly, Such as watch for the saints' halting, and catch at
every infirmity to make them odious and themselves merry. 'Tis
a dreadful curse such bring upon themselves, though they little
think of it ! no less than Amalek's, the remembrance of whose
name God threatened to blot fro7n under heaven ; why, what
had Amalek done to deserve this ? Thev sniote the hindcrmost,
those that were feeble , Deut. xxv. 19. and could not march with
the rest. And was it so great a cruelty to do this ? Much more
to smite with the edge of a mocking tongue the feeble in grace.

Thirdly, Such as father their sins upon the saints ; thus Ahab
calls the prophet the troubler of Israel ^ when it was himself and
his father's house. What a grief was it, think you, to JVloseii'
spirit, for the Israelites to lay the blood of those that died in the
wilderness at his door ? Whereas, God knows, he was their con-
stant bail^ when at any time God's haftd was up to destroy them ;
and this is the charge which the best of God's servants in this
crooked generation of ours lie under : We may thank them, say
the prophane, for all our late miseries in the nation : we were well
enough till they would reform us. O for shame, blame not the
good physic tbat was administered, but the corrupt body ot the na-
tion that could not bear it.

Fourthly, Such as will themselves sin, merely to trouble the
saints' spirit ; thus, Rabshakeh blasphemed, and when desired to
speak in another language, he goes on the more to grieve them .
Sometimes you shall have a prophane wretch (knowing one to be
conscientious, and cannot brook to hear the name of God taken
in vain, or the ways of God flouted) will on purpose fall upon such
discourse as shall grate his chaste ears, and trouble his gracious
spirit ; such a one strikes father and child at one blow, thinks it
not enough to dishonour God, except the saint stands by to se«
and hear the wrong done to his heavenly Father.

Use

I

Against the Wiles of the Devil.^ 10:5

Use 2» Secondly, This may afford matter of adaiirat Ion and
thankfulness to any of you, O ye saints, who are not this day under
T3atan's hatches. Is he so subtile to disquiet, and has thou any peace
in thy conscience ? To whom art thou beholden for that serenity
that is on thy spirit ? To none but ttiy God, under whose wing
thou sittest so warm and saf«. Is there not combustible matter
(uough in thy conscience for bis sparks to kindle ? Perhaps thou
iiast not committed such bloody sins as others : that's not the reason
of thy peace, for the least is big enough to damn, much more to
trouble thee. Thou hast not grossly fallen (may be) since con-
version ; that's rare, if thou beest of long standing ; yet the ghosto
of the unregencrate sins might walk in thy conscience : thou hast
4iad many testimonies of God's favour, hast thou not ? Who more
than David ? Psal. Ixxvii. Yet heis at a loss -sometimes, learning
to Spell his evidences, as if he could never have read them. The
sense of God's love comes and goes with the present taste. He
that is in th* dark (while therej sees not the more for former light.
() bless God for that light which shines in at the window ; satan
is plotting to undermine thy comfort every day. This thief sees
thy pleasant fruits as they hang, and his teeth water at them, but
the wall is too high for him to climb ; thy God keeps this serpent
out of thy paradise. 'Tis not the grace of God in thee, but the
favour of God as a shield about thee, defends thee from the wicked
one.

Use 3. Thirdly, Let satan's subtilty, to molest your peacQ,
n>al?e thee, O Christian, more wise and wary : thou hast not a
Ibol to deal with, but one that hath wit enough to spill thy com-
fort, and spoil thy joy, if not narrowly watched : This is the dainty
bit he gapes for^ 'tis not harder to keep the flies out of your cup-
boards in summer from tainting your provision, than satan out of
your consciences : many a sweet meal hath he robbed the saints
of, and sent them supperless to bed ; take heed therefore that iue
joams not in thine also.

CHAP. VII.

Vonlaining same Directions^ tending to entrench and fortify the
Christian against the Assaults and Wiles of the Devil^ as fb
Troubler of the SouVs Peace*

Quest, ¥_I OW shall I stand in a defensive posture (may the Chris-

*^-*- tian say) against these wiles of Satan as a troubler ?

SECT. I, — Answ. First, Jf thou wouldst be guarded from him

Sis* troubler, take heed of him as a seducer. I'he haft of satan's

G 3 i'.atchct

104 That ye mat) he able to stand

hatchet (with which he lies chopping at the root of the Christian's
comfort) is commonly made of the Christian's wood. First, he
tempts to sin, and then for it. Satan is but a creature, and can-
not work W'ithout tools; he can indeed make much of a little, but
not any thing of nothing, as we see in his assaulting of Christ,
where he troubled himself to little purpose, because he came and
found nothing of him^ John xiv. 30. Though the devil throws
the stone, yet it is the mud in us that disturbs our comforts. 'Twas
in vain for the Philistines to fall on Sampson till his lock was cut :
Take heed therefore of yielding to his enticing motions ; these are
the stumbling blocks, at which he hopes thou wilt break thy shins,
and bruise thy conscience, which once done, let him alone to
spin out the cure. Indeed a saint's flesh heals not so easily as i
others : drink not of the devil's vessel, there is poison in the cup,
his wine is a mocker, look not on it as it sparkles in the temp-
tation ; what thou drinkest down with sweetness, thou wilt be
sure to bring up again as gall and wormwood. Above all sins,
take heed of presumptuous ones ; thou art not out of the danger
of such. Psal. xix. 13. Sad stories we have of saints' falls, and
what follows ! Then, take him,jailor, (saith God) deliver such a
one unto satan ; and if a saint be the prisoner, and ihe devil the
keeper, you may guess how he shall be used. O how he will
tear and rend thy conscience I Though that dreadful ordinance
is not used (as it should be) in the church, j^et God's court sits,
and if he excommunicates a soul from his presence, he falls pre-
sently into Satan's hatches. Well, if through his subtilty thou
hast been overtaken, take heed thou stayest not in the devil's
quarters, shake the viper off thy hand, ply thee to thy chirur-
geon : green woundsxure best ; but if thou neglectest, and the
wind get to it, thy conscience will soon fester. Ahab (we read
1 Kings xxii. 35.) was wounded in battle, and was loth to yield
to it ; it is said, he wa^ held up in his chariot, but he died for it :
When a soul hath received a wound, committed a sin, satan labours
to bolster him up with flattering hopes, holds him up, as it were,
in the chariot against God. What, yield for this ! Afraid for a
little scratch, and lose the spoil of thy future pleasures for this !
O take heed of listening to such counsel ; the sponer thou yield-
est, the fairer quarter thou shalt have. Every step in this way
sets thee further from thy peace. A rent garment is catched by
every nail, and the rent made wider. Renew therefore thy re-
pentance speedily, whereby this breach may be njade up, and
worse prevented, which else will befal thee.

SECT. II Secondly, Study that grand gospel-truth of a

soul's justification before God; acquaint thyself with this in all
its causes ; the moving cause, the free mercy of God, being jus-
tified freely by his grace, Kom. iii. 24. the meritoriou?, which']

Against the Wiles of the Devil. 105

is the blood of Christ ; and the instrumental, faith, with all tlie
sweet privileges that flow from it. An eflfectual door once open-
ed to let the soul into this truth, would not only spoil the Pope's
market (as Gardner said) but the devil's also ; when satan conlfes
to disquiet the Christian's peace (for want of a right understand-
ing here) he is soon woi*sted by his enemy ; as the silly hare, which
might escape the dogs in some covert or burrough that is at hand,
but (trusting to her heels) is by the print of her own feet and
scent, which she leaves behind, followed, till at last (weary and
spent) she falls into the mouth of them. In all that a Christian
doth, there is a print of sinful infirmity, and a scent b)^ which sa-
tan is enabled to trace and pursue him over hedge and ditch,
this grace and that duty, till the soul, not able to stand before the
accusation of satan, is read}' to fall down in despair at his feet ;
whereas here is a hiding place, whither the enemy durst not come,
the clefts of the rock, the hole ofthe stairs, which this truth leads
unto. When satan chargeth thee for a sinner, perhaps thou inter-
posest thy repentance and reformation, but soon art beaten out of
those works, when thou art shewn the sinful mixtures that are in
them ; whereas this truth would choke all his bullets, that thou
believest on him who had said, JS^ot unto him that tcorketh^ hut
to him that helieveth on him that justifieth the imgodkj^ his faith
is imputtd for righteoimiess^ Rom. iv. 5. Get therefore into
this tower of the gospel covenant, and roll this truth (as she that
stone on the head of Abimelech) on the head of satan.

SECT. Ill Thirdly, Be sure (Christian) thou keepest thy

plains. Take heed that satan coop thee not in some straits, wheie
thou canst neither well fight, nor fly. Such a trap the Egyptians
hoped they had the Israelites in, when they cried, Thei/ are en-
tangltd^ they are entangled. There are three kinds of straits
wherein he labours to entrap the Christian ; nice questions, ob-
scure scriptures, and dark providences.

Eirst, He labours to puzzle him with nice and scrupulous ques-
tions (on purpose to retard the work, and clog him in his motion,)
that meeting with such intricacies in his Christian course, which
he cannot easily resolve, thereby he may be made, either to give
over, or go on heavil}'^ ; therefore we have particular charge not
to trouble the weak heads of young converts with dovhtjul dispti-
iations, Horn. xiv. i. Sometimes satan will be asking the soul,
how he knows its election ; and where he finds one not so fully
resolved, as to dare to own the same, he frames his argument against
such a one's closing with Christ and the piomise ; as if it were
presumption to assume that (which is only the portion ofthe elect)
before we know ourtelvesof that number. Now, Christian, keep
the plains, and thou art safe. 'lis plain, we Jtro not to make
election a ground for our faith, but our faith and calling a we^«/n/7?i

G X or

106 That ye may he able to stand

or argument to prove our election. Election indeed is first in
order of divine acting. God chooseth before we believe ; yet faitli
is first in our acting. AVe must believe before we can know we
be elected ; yea, by bejieving we know it. The husbandman
kuows it is spring by the sprouting of the grass, though he hath
no astrology to know the position of the heavens ; thou raayest
know thou art elect as surely, by a work of grace in thee, as if
thou hadst stood by God's elbow when he writ thy name in the
book of life. It had been presumption for David to have thought he
should have been King, till Samuel anointed him ; but then none
at all ; when thou believest first, and closest with Christ, then is
the spirit of God sent to anoint thee to the kingdom of heaven ;
this is that holy oil which is poured upon none but heirs of glory ;
and 'tis no presumption to read what God's gracious purpose was
towards thee of old, when he prints those his thoughts, and makes
them legible in thy effectual calling ; here thou dost not go up
to heaven, and pry into God's secrets, but heaven comes down to
thee, and reveals them. Again, he will ask the Christian what
was the time of his conversion ; art thou a Christian (will he say),
and dost thou not know when thou commencedst ? Now keep the
plains, and content thyself with this, that thou seest the streams
of grace, though the time of thy conversion be, like the head of
!Nilus, not to be found. , God oft comes betimes, before gross sins
have deflowered the soul, and steals into the creature's bosom with-
out much noise. In such a case satan doth but abuse thee, when
he sends thee on this errand ; you may know the suu is up, though
you did not observe when it rose. Again, what will become of
thee (saith satan) if God should bring thee into such an affliction
or trial, when thou must burn or turn, or when all thy outward es-
tate shall be rent from thee, no meal in the barrel, or money in
the purse ; darest thou have so good an opinion of thyself, as to
think that thy faith will hold out in such an hour of temptation ?
If ihou hast but half an eye, Christian, thou mayest see what satan
drives at ; this is an ensnaring question ; by the fear of future
troubles he labours to bring thee into a neglect of thy present duty,
and indispose thee also for such a state whenever it falls. If a
man hath much business to do on the morrow, 'tis his wisdom to
discharge his mind thereof (when composing to sleep), lest the
thoughts thereof break his rest, and make him more unfit in the
morning. The less rest the soul hath in God and his promise
concerning future events, the less strength it will find to bear them
when the pinch comes. When therefore thou art molested with
suclj fears, pacif}^ thy heart with these three plain conclusions,
i First, Every event is the product of God's providence ; npt a
sparrow, much less a saint, falls to the ground by poverty, sickness,
persecution, &c, but the hand of God is in it.
1'.. Secondly,

Jgainst the Wiles of the Devil. 107

Secondly, God hath put in a caution, he will never leave thee^
nor forsake thee^ Heb. xiii. 5. He that enables thee in one
condition, will in another. God learns his servants their whole
trade. Grace is an universal principle. At the hrst moment of
thy spiritual life, suffering grace was infused as well as praying
grace.

Thirdly, God is wise to conceal the succours he intends in the
several changes of thy life, that so he may draw thy heart into an
entire dependence on his faithful promise. Thus to try the metal
of Abraham's faith, he let him go on, till his hand was stretched
, forth, and then he comes tp his rescue. Christ sends his disciples
to sea, but stays behind himself, on a design to try their faith, and
shew his love. Comfort thyself therefore with this, though thou
seest not thy God in the way, yet thou shalt lind him in the end.

Secondly, Satan perplexes the tender consciences of doubting
Christians with obscure scriptures, whose sense lies too deep for
their weak and distempered judgments readily to find out, and with
these he hampers poor souls exceedingly ; indeed as melancholy
men delight in melancholy walks, so doubting souls most frequent
such places of scripture in their musing thoughts, as increase their
doubts ; how many have I known that have looked so long on
those difficult places, Heb. vi. 7. Heb. x. 26. (which pass the unr
derstanding as a swift stream the eye, so that the sense is not
perceived without great observation) till their heads have turned
round, and they at last (not able to untie the difficulties) have fal-
len down into despairing thoughts and words of their own condi-
tion, crying out, O they have sinned against knowledge of the
truth, and therefore no mercy remains for them ; who if they
would have refreshed their understandings by looking off" these
places (whose engraving is too curious to be long pored on by a
weak eye), they might have found that in other scnptures plainly
expressed, which would have enabled them, as through a glass,
more safely to have viewed these; therefore. Christian, keep the
plains ; thou niayest be sgie 'tis thine enemy that gives thee such
.stones to break thy teeth, when thy condition calls rather for
bread than wine, such scriptures, 1 mean, as are most apt to
nourish thy faith, and cheer thy drooping spirit. When thou
meetest such plain scriptures which speak to thy case, go over
where it is fordable, and do not venture beyond thy depth. Art
thou afraid, because thou hast sinned since the knowledge of the
truth, that therefore no sacrifice remains for thee? See David and
Peter's case, how it patterns thine, and left upon record that their
recovery may be a key in thine hand to open such places as these ;
^mayest thou not safely conclude from these. This is not their
meaning, that none can be saved that sin after knowledge ? In^
4eed in both these places, it is neither meant of the falls of such as

108 Tha^ 7/e tJtaif he ahle to stand

ever had true grace, nor of a falling away in some particular acts
of sin, but of a total universal falling away from the faith (the
doctrine of it as well as seeming practice of it.) Now if the
root of the matter were ever in thee, other scriptures will first
comfort thee against those particular apostasies into which thou
hast relapsed, by sweet promises inviting such to return, and pre.
cedents of saints, who have had peace spoken to them after such
foUy^ and also they will satisfy thee against the other, by giving
full security to thy faith, that thy little grace shall not die, being
immortal, though not in its proper essence, because a creature,
yet by covenant, as it is a child of promise.

Thirdly, Dark providences. From these satan disputes against
God's love and grace in the soul. First, he got a commission to
plunder Job of his temporal estate, and bereave him of his cliil-
Gfen, and then labours to make him question his spiritual estate
and sonship : his wife would have him entertain hard thoughts of
God, saying. Curse God and die; and his friends as hard thoughts
of himself (as if he were an hypocrite) ; and both upon the same
mistake, as ifsuch an afflicted condition, and a gracious state, were
inconsistent. Now, Christian, keep the plains, and neither from
this charge God foolishly for thine enemy, nor thyself as his; read
the saddest providence with the comment of the word, and thou
canst not make such a harsh interpretation. As God can make
a straight line with a crooked stick, be lighteous when he useth
wicked instruments ; so also gracious when he dispenseth harsh
providences. Joseph kept his love, when he spake roughly to his
brethren. I do not wonder that the wicked think they have God's
blessings, because they are in the warm sun : Alas, they are
strangers to God's counsels, void of his spirit, and sensual, judging
of God and his providence by the report present feeling makes of
them ; like little children, who think every one loves them that
gives them plumbs. But 'tis strange, that a saint should be at a
loss for his afflicted state, when he hath a key to decipher God's
character: Christian, hath not God secretly instructed thee by
his spirit from the word, how to read the short liand of his provi-
dence ? Dost not thou know that the saints afflictions stand for
blessings ? JElveri/ son whom he loves he corrects ; and prosperity
in a wicked state, must it not be read a curse ? Doth not God
damn such to be rich, honourable, victorious in this world, as well
ias to be tormented in another w^orld ? God gives them more of
these than they seem to desire sometimes, and all to bind them
faster up in a deep sleep of security, as Jael served Sisera, Judg.
T. 25. He shall have milk, though he asked but water, that she
might nail him the surer to the ground. Milk having a property,
l^s some v/rite, to incline to sleep,

SECT. IV. — Fourthly^ Be careful to keep thy oW receipts

which

Against the Wiles of the Devil. 109

which thou hast from God for the pardon of thy sins. There arc
some gaudj days and jubilee-like festivals, when God comes forth
clothed with the robes of his mercy, and holds forth the sceptre
of his grace moi*e familiarly to his children than ordinary, bearing
witness to their faith, sinceritj", &c. and then the firmament is
clear, not a cloud to be seen to darken the Christian's comfort.
liOve and joy are the soul's repast and pastime, while this feast
lasts. Now when God withdraws, and this cheer is taken off,
Satan's woik is how he may deface and wear off the remembrance
of this testimony, which the soul triumphs in for its vspiritual stan-
ding, that he may not have it as an evidence when he shall bring
about the suit again, and put the soul to produce his writings for
his spiritual state, or renounce his claim. It behoves thee there-
fore to lay them up safely : Such a testimony may serve to non-
suit thy accuser many years hence ; one affirmative from God's
mouth for thy pardoned state, carries more weight, though of old
date, than a thousand negatives from satan's. David^s songs of
old spring in with a light to his soul in his midnight sorrows.

Quest. But what counsel would you give me, saith the distres-
sed soul, who cannot fasten on my former comforts, nor dare to
avouch those evidences, which once I thought true ? I find indeed
there have been some treaties of old between God and my soul ;
some hopes I have had, but these are now so defaced and inter-
lined with backslidings, repentances, and falls again, that now I
question all my evidences, whether true or counterfeit: What
shall one in this case do ?

Jnsw. First, Renew thy repentance, as if thou hadst never re-
pented. Put forth fresh acts of faith, as if thou hadst never be-
lieved. This seriously done, will stop satan's mouth with an un-
expected answer. Let him object against thy former actings as
hypocritical, what can he say against thy present repenting and
believing, which, if true, sets thee beyond his shot. It will be
harder for satan to disprove the present workings of God's graci-
ous spirit, whilst the impressions thereof are fresh, than to pick an
hole in thy old deeds and evidences. Acts are transient ; and as
wicked men look at sins committed many years since as little or
none, by reason of that breadth of time that interposeth, so the
Christian upon the same account stands at great disadvantage, to
take the true aspect of those acts of grace, which so long ago pas-
sed between God and him, though sometimes even those are of
jgreat use. As God can make a sinner possess the sins of his
3^outh, as if they were newly acted, to his ten or in his old age, so
God can present the comforts and evidences which of old the
saint received, with those very thoughts he had then of them, as
if they were fresh and new.

And therefore," Secondly, If he haunts thee with fears of thy

spiritual

no That ye may he able to stand

spiritual estate, ply thee to the throne of grace, and beg a new
copy of thy old evidence, wliich thou hast lost. The original is
an the pardon-office in heaven, whereof Christ is master ; if thou
art a saint, thy name is upon record in that court : make thy
moan to God, hear what news from heaven, rather than listen to
the tales which are brought by thine enemy from hell. Did such
reason less with satan, and pray over their fears more to God,
they might sooner be resolved. Can you expect truth from a liar,
and comfort from an enemy ? Did he ever prophecy well of be-
lievers ? Was not Job the devil's hypocrite, whom God vouched
for a non-such in holiness, and proved him so at last ? If he knew
*hat thou wert a saint, would he tell thee so ? If an hypocrite, he
would be as loth thou shouldst knojv it ; turn thy back therefore
on him, and go to thy God : fear not, but sooner or later he will
■give his ha^nd again to thy certificate. But look thou dost not
pass rashl}'- a censure on thyself, because a satisfactory answer is
juot presently sent at thy desire 5 the messenger may stay long,
and bring good news at last.

Thirdly, Shun battte with thine enemy until thou art in a fit-
ter posture ; and that thou may est draw into thy trenches, and
make an honourable retreat into those fastnesses and strengths,
which Christ hath provided for his sick and wounded soldiers,
Now there are two places of advantage into which deserted souls
may retire ; the name of God, and the absolute promises of the
gospel ; these I may call the fair havens, which are then chiefly
of use, when the storm is so great that the ship cannot liv^ at s§a«
O, saith satan, dost thou hope to see God ? None but ^he pure in
heart shall be blest with that vision. Thinkest thou to have conir
fort ? That is the portion of the mojirners in spirit. Now, souL,
though thou canst not say, in the hurry of temptation, thou art the
pure and the mourner inspirit, yet then say thou believest God is
iible to work these in thee, j'ca, liath promi&ed such a mercj^ to
poor sinners ; 'tis his covenant (he will give a new heart, a clean
iieart, a soft heart) ; and there 1 wait, knowing, as there was
tiDthingin the creature to move the great God to make such pro-
mises, so there can be nothing in the creature to hinder the Al-
mighty his performance of them, where and when he pleaseth.
This act of faith, accompanied with a longing desire after that
grace thou canst not jet find, and an attendance on the means,
though it will not fully satisfy all thy doubts, may be, yet wiij
keep thy head above water, that thou despairest not j and such
31 prop thou needest in this case, or the bouse falls.

Fourthly, If yet satan dogs thee, call in help, and keep not the
-Jevil's counsel. The very strength of some temptations lies in
the concealing of them, and the very revealing of them to some
liiitbful friend (like the opening and pricking of an impostume)

gives

Against the Wiles of the Devil. Ill

gives the soul present ease : Satan knows this too well ; and
therefore, as some thieves, when they come to rob an house, either
gag them in it, or hold a pistol to their breast, frightening them
with death, if they cry or speak, thussatan, that he may the more
freely rifle the soul of its peace and oomfort, overawes it so, that
it cj^res not disclose his temptation. O, saith satan, if thy bre-
thren or friends know such a thing by thee, they will cast thee
off, others will hoot at thee. Thus many a poor soul hath been
kept long in its pangs by biting them in ; thou losest (Christian)
a double help by keeping the deviPs secret, the counsel and pray-
ers of thy fellow-brethren ; and what an invaiuable loss is this I

CHAP. VIII. .

Of the Saints Victory over their subtle Enemt/^ and whence it
is that Creatures so overmatched, should be able to stand
against Satan''s Wiles.

nPHE second branch of the Apostle's argument follows, to excite
-■' them the more vigorously to their arms^ and it is from the
possibility, yea, certainty of standing against this subtle enemy,
if thus armed. That they may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. So that this gives the Apostle's argument its due
tempeiament j for he meant not to scare them into a cowardly
flight, or sulleu despair of victory, when he tells them theii* enemy
is so subtle and politick ; but to excite them to a vigorous resis-
tance, from the assured hope of strength to stand in battle, and
victoriously after it ; which two I conceive are comprehended in
that phrase, standing against the wiles of satan. j9ometimes to
stand implies a fighting posture ; so ver. 14. Sometimes a con-
tpiering posture. Job xix. 25. I know that my Redeemer liveth^
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. That
^earth which was the field where all the bloody battles were fought
between him and satan, on it shall be stand, when not an enemy
shall dare to shew his head. So that, taking both these in, the
observation is,

JDoct. Satan, with all his wits and wiles, shall never vanquish
a soul armed with true grace ; nay, he that hath this armour of
God on shall vanquish him. Look into the word, you shall not
find a saint but hath been in the list with him, sifted and winnowed
more or less by this enemy, yet at last we find them all coming off
with an honourable victory ; as in David, Job, Peter, Paul, who
were the hardest put to it of any upon record j and lest some
should attribute their victory to the strength of their inherent

grace,

112 That ye ma^ he able to stand

grace, above others of their weaker brethren, yoa have the glory
of victories appropriated to God, in whom the weak are as strong
as the strongest, 2 Cor. xii. 9. Jam. v. 21. We shall give a
double reason of this truth, why the Christian, who seems to be
so overmatched, is yet so unconquerable.

Reas, First, The curse that lies upon satan and his cause.
God's curse blasts wherever it comes. The Canaanites with
their neighbour-nations were bread for Isi^ael, though people fa-
mous for war ; and why ? They were cursed nations. The
Egyptians a politic people ; Let us deal ivisely (say they) ; yet
being cursed of God, this lay like a thorn at their lieart, and was
at last their ruin ; yea, let the Israelites themselves (who carry
the badge of God's covenant on their flesh) by their sins once be-
come the people of God's curse, and they are trampled like dirt
under the Assyrian's foot. This made Balak beg so hard for a
curse upon Israel. Now there is an irrecoverable curse cleaves
to satan, from Isa. x. 5. Gen. iii. 14, 15. And the Lord said to
the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed^ S^c,
which place, though partly meant of the literal serpent, yet chiefly
of the devil and the wicked (his spiritual serpentine brood), as
appears by the enmity pronounced against the serpent's seed and
the woman's, which clearly holds forth the feud between Christ
with his seed, against the devil and his. Now there are two
things in that curse which may comfort the saints. First, the
curse prostrates satan under their feet. Upon thy belly shalt thou
go^ which is no more than is elsewhere promised, that God will
subdue satan under our feet. Now this prostrate condition of
satan assures believers, that the devil shall never lift his head (tliat
is, his wily policy) higher than the saint's heel. He may make
thee limp, but not bereave thee of tb}'^ life ; and this bruise which
he gives thee shall be rewarded with the breaking of his own
kead^ that is, the utter ruin of him and his cause. Secondly, his
food is here limited and appointed. Satan shall not devour whom
he will. The dust is his food, which seems to restrain his power
to the wicked, who are of the earth, earthy, mere dust ; but for
those who are of a heavenly extraction, their graces are reserved
for Christ's food. Cant. vii. 13. and their souls surely are not a
morsel for the devil's tooth.

The second reason is taken from the wisdom of God, who as he
midertakes the ordering of the Christian's way to heaven, Psal.
xxxvii. 24. so especially this business of satan's temptations. We
find Christ was not led of the evil spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted, but of the Holy Spirit, Matt. iv. 1. Satan tempts not
when he will, but when God pleaseth ; and the same Holy Spirit
which led Christ into the field, brought him off with victory. And
therefore we find him marching in the power of the Spirit Cafter

he

Against the Wiles of the Devil 113

he had repulsed satan) into Galilee, Luke iv. 14. When satan
tempts a saint, he is but God's messenger, 2 Cor, xii. 7. There
was given to 7ne a thorn in the Jiesh^ the messenger of satan to
buffet me^ so our translation. But rather as Beza, who will have
it in caso recto^ the messenger satan, implying: that he was sent
of God to I*aul, and indeed the errand he came about was too
good and gracious to be his own, Lest I should be exalted above
measure ; the devil never meant to do Paul such a good office ;
but God sends him-^o-Paul, as David sent Uriah with letters to
Joab ; neither knew the contents of their message. The devil
and his instruments, both are God's instruments, therefore the
wicked are called his sword, his ax, Psal. xvii. 13. Isa. x. 15.
Now let God alone to wield the one,' and handle the other. He
is but a bungler that hurts and hackles his own legs with his own
ax ; which God should do, if his children should be the worse of
Satan's temptations. Let the devil choose his way, God is for
him at every weapon. If he'll try it by force of arms, and as-
sault the saints by persecution, as the JLord of Hosts^ he will
oppose him. If by policy and subtilty, he is ready there also.
The devil and his whole council are but fools to God. Nav,
their wisdom is foolishness. Cunning and art commend every
thing but sin. The more artificial the watch, the picture, &:c.
the better ; but the more wit and art in sin, the worse, because
it is employed against an all-wise God, that cannot be outwitted,
and therefore will in the end but pay the workman in greater
damnation. The foolishness of God is loiser than man^ yea, thaji
the wisdom of men and devils, that is, the means and instruments
which God opposeth satan withal. What weaker than a sermon?
Who sillier than the saints in the account of the wise world? Yet
God is wiser in a weak sermon, than satan in his deep plots
(wherein the state-heads of a whole conclave of profound cardi-
nals are knocked together) ; wiser in his simple ones, than sa-
tan in his Achitophels and Sanballats; and truly God chooseth
on purpose to defeat the policies of hell and earth by these, that
he may put such to greater shame, 1 Cor. i. 21. How is the
great scholar ashamed to be baffled by a plain countryman's argu-
ment ? Thus God calls forth Job to wrestle with satan and his
seconds (for such his three friends shewed themselves in taking
the devil's part), and sure he is not able to hold up his cudgels
against the fencing-master, who is beaten by one of his scholars.
God sits laughing, while hell and earth sit plotting, Psal. ii. 5. He
disappointtth the devices of the craftij^ he breaketh their studied
thoughts and plots, as the words import. Job v. 12. in one mo-'
ment pulling down the labours of many years' policy. Indeed,
as great men keep wild beasts for game and sport (as the fox, the
bo^r, &c.), so doth God satan and his instruments, to manifest

114 That i/e ma^ he able to stand

his wisdom in the taking of them. It is observed, that the very
hunting of some beasts affords not only pleasure to the hunter, but
also more sweetness to the eater. Indeed God, by displaying of
his wisdom in the pursuit of his saints enemies, doth superadd a
sweet relish to their deliverances at last. He brake the heads of
the Leviathan in pieces^ and gave him to be meat to his people.
After he had hunted Pharoah out of all his forms and burroughs,
now he breaks the very brains of all his plots, and serves them up
to his people with the garnishment of his wisdom and power.

'W%'W%'V%%-% %■»%%< ■»%-»%-V'yV%-%

CHAP. IX.

An Account is given, how the All-wise God doth outwit the Devil
in his tempting of Saints to Sin ; wherein are laid down the
Ends Satan propounds^ and how he is prevented in all^ with
the gracious Issue that God puts to these his Temptations.

Quest, T3UT liow doth God defeat Satan, and outwit his uiles
-■-' in tempting his Saints 9

Answ. This God doth, by accomplishing his own gracious ends
for the good and comfort of his people, out of those temptations
from which satan designs their ruin j this is the noblest kind of
conquest, to beat back the devil's weapon to the wounding of his
own head, yea, to cut it off with the deviTs own sword ; thus God
sets the devil to catch the devil, and lays, as it were, his own
counsels under satan's wings, and makes him hatch them. Thus
the patriarchs helped to fulfil Joseph's dream, while they are
thinking to rid their hands of him. To instance in a few particulars.

SECT. I.— -Fii-st, Satan by his temptations aims at the defil-
ing of the Christian's conscience, and disfiguring that beautiful
face of God's image, which is engraven with holiness in the Chris-
tian's bosom ; he is an miclean spirit himself, and would have
them such, that he might glory in their shame ; but God outwits
him, for he turneth the temptations of satan to sin, to the purging
them from sin ; they are the black soap with which God washeth
his saints white.

First, God useth the temptations of satan to one srn, as a pre-
ventative agjiinst another; so Paul's thornin the flesh to prevent
his pride. God sends satan to assault Paul on that side where
lie is strong, that in the mean time he may fortify him where he
i-i weak. Thus satan is befooled ; as sometimes we see an army
sitting down before a town, where it wastes its strength to no
purpose, and in the mean time gives the enemy an advantage to
recruit, and all this by the counsel of some Hushai, that is, a

secret

Against the Wiles of the Devil. 115

secret friend to the contrary side. God, who is the saint*s true
friend, sits in the devil's counsel, and overrules proceedings there
to the saint's advantage ; he suffers the devil to annoy the Chris-
tian with temptations to blasphemy, atheism ; and by these, to-
gether with the troubles of spirit they produce, the soul is driven
to duty, is humbled in the sense of these horrid apparitions in its
imagination, and secured from abundance of formality and pride,
which otherwise God saw invading him. As in a family, some
business falls out, which keeps the master up later than ordinary,
and by this the thief, who that night intended to rob him, is dis-
appointed ', had not such a soul had his spirit of prayer and dili-
gence kept awake by those afflicting temptations, 'tis likely sa-
tan might have come as a seducer, and taken him napping ia
security.

Secondly, God purgeth out the very sin satan tempts to, even
by his tempting. Peter never had such a conquest over his self-
confidence, never such an establishment of his faith, as after his
foul fall in the High-Priest's hall. He that was so well per-
suaded of himself before, as to say, though all were offended with
Christ, yet would not he ; how modest and humble was he in a
few days become, when he durst not say he loved Christ more
than his fellow-brethren, to whom before he had preferred him-
self I What an undaunted confessor of Christ and his gospel doth
he prove before councils and rulers, who even now was dashed
out of countenance by a silly maid ! and all this the product of
Satan's temptation sanctified unto him. Indeed a saint hath a
discovery, by his fall, what is the prevailing corruption in him ; so
that the temptation doth but stir the humour, which the soul hav-
ing found out, hath the greater advantage to evacuate, by apply-
ing those means, and using those ingredients which do purge that
malady, cum delectu. JNow the soul will call all out against this
destroyer ; Paul had not taken such' pains to buffet his bod;y, had
he not found satan knocking at that door.

Thirdly, God useth these temptations for the advancing of the
whole work of grace in the heart. One spot occasions the whole
garment to be washed. David overcome with one sin, renews
his repentance for all, Psal. li. A good husband, when he seeth
it rain in at one place, sends for the workman to look over all
the house This indeed differenceth a sincere heart from a hy-
pocrite, whose repentance is partial, soft in one plot, and hard
in another. Judas cries out of his treason, but not a word of his
thievery and hypocrisy. The hole was no wider in his conscience
than where the bullet went in ; whereas true sorrow for one
sin breaks the heart into shivers for others also.

SECT. II — Secondly, Satan, by tempting one saint, hath a
mischievous design against others, either by encouraging them to

H sia

IIG That 2/e mat/ be able to stand

sin by the example of such a one, or discouraging them in their
holj course by the scandal he hath given ; but God here befools
hittt. ^

First, Making the miscarriages of such, a seasonable caveat to
others to look to their standing. Dost thou see a meek Moses
provoked to anger ! What watch and ward hast thou need keep
over thy unruly heart ? Though loud winds do some hurt, by
blowing down here a loose tile, and there a turret (which was
falling before), yet the common good surmounts the private da-
mage of some few ; these being as a broom in God's hand to sweep
and cleanse the air ; so, though some (that are wicked) are by
God's righteous judgment for the same hardened into future abo-
minations by the saints falls, yet the good which sincere souls
receive by having their formality and security in a further degree
purged, doth abundantly countervail the other, who are but sent
a little faster whither they were going before.

Secondly, God makes his saints falls an argument for comfort
to distressed consciences. This hath been, and is as a feather
(when the passage seems so stopt, that no comfort can be got
down otherwise) to drop a little hope into the soul, to keep the
creature alive from falling into utter despair. Some have been
revived with this, when next door to hell in their own fears. Da-
vid's sin was great, yet found mercy ; Peter fell foully, yet is now
in heaven. Why sittest thou here, O my soul, under the hatches
of despair ? Up, and call upon thy God for mercy, who hath par-
doned the same to others.

Thirdly, God hath a design, in suffering satan to trounce some
of his saints by temptation, to train them up in a fitness to suc-
cour their fellow-brethren in the like condition ; he sends them
hither to school (where they are under satan 's ferula and lash),
that his cruel hand over them may make them study the word and
their own hearts, by which they get experience of satan's policies,
till at last they commence masters in this art of comforting temp-
ted souls. It is an art by itself, to speak a word in season to the
wearij soul : Tis not serving out an apprenticeship to human arts
that will furnish a man for this ; great doctors have proved great
dunces here, knowing no more how to handle a wounded con-
science, than a rustic the chirurgeon's instrument, in dissecting
the body when an anatomy-lecture is to be read. 'Tis not the
knowledge of the scripture (though a man were as well acquain-
ted with it as an apothecary with his pots and glasses in his shop,)
able to go directly to any promise on a sudden, will suffice. No,
not grace itself, except exercised with these buffetings and soul-
conflicts. Christ himself we find trained up in this school, Isa. 1. 4.
tie wakeneth fnine ear to hear as the learned ; even as the tutor
Calls upon his pupil to read to him ; and what is the lecture which
^ is

Against the Wiles of the Devil, Wf

is read to Christ, that he may have the tongue of the learned to
speak a word in season to the weary soul ? see ver. 5. The Lord
hath opened mine ear^ and I was not rehellious^ nfither tunted t
away mij ba^k^ J gave my back to the smiters^ <Ji-c. His sufTcp-
ing3 (which were all along mingled with temptations) were the
lecture from which Christ came out so learned, to resolve and
comfort distressed souls. So that the devil bad better have let
Christ alone, yea, and his saints also, who do him but the greater
disservice iu comforting others ; none will handle poor souls so '
gently as those, who remember the smart of their own heart-sor-
rows ; none so skilful in applying the comforts of the word to
wounded consciences, as those who have lain bleeding themselves;
such know the symptoms of sonUtroubie, and feel other pains in
their own bosoms, which some that know the scriptures (for lack
of experience) do not, and therefore are like a novice physician*^'
who perhaps can tell you every plant in the herbal, yet wanting
the practical part, when a patient comes, knows not well how to
make use of his skill. 'J'he saints' experiences help them to a
sovereign treacle made of the scorpion^s own flesh (w^iich they
through Christ have slain), and that hath a virtue above all otli€r'
to exi^el the venom of satan's temptations from the heart. J

SECT. III.-r-Thirdly, Satan iu tempting the saint to sin, lafJJc
bours to make a breach between God and the sonl. He hates
both, and therefore labours to divide these dear friends. If 1 can
(thinks he) get such a one to sin, God will be angry, and when
angry, he'll whip his child soundly, this will be some sport ; and
when God is correcting the saint, he'll be questioning the love of
God to him, and cool in his love to God ; so though 1 should not
keep him from heaven at last, yet he shall have little joy thither
in the way. In this case, God and the soul will be like a man
and his wife fallen out, who neither of thenj look kindly one upoft
another. Now see how God befools satan in both these. '*>

Fii'st, God useth his saints temptations as his method by which
he advanccth the communications of his love unto them. I'he
devil thought he had got the goal, when he got Adam to eat the
forbidden fruit ; he thought now he had man in the same predica-
ment with himself, as unlikely ever to see the face of C^od as those
apostate spirits : But alas ! this was by God intended to usher
in that great gospel-plan of saving man by Christ, who (as soon as
this prologue of man's ftill is done) is brought upon the stage in
that grand promise of the gospel made to Adam, and at God's
command undei takes the charge ot recovering lost man out of
satan's clutches, and reinstating him in his primitive glory, with
an access of more than ever man had at first, so that the meanest
lily in Christ's field exceeds Adam in all bis native royalty. And
as satan sped iu his fu-st temptation, so he is still on the losing
^ H 2 hand :

IIS Thaty^ may he able to stand

band : What got he by all his pains upon Job, but to let that
holy man know at last how dearly God loved him ? When he
foiled Peter so shamefully, do we not find Christ owning Peter
with as much love as ever ? Peter must be the only disciple, to
whom by name the joyful news of the resurrection is sent. Go tell
thy disciples and Peter ; as if Christ had said, be sure let his
sad heart be comforted with this news, that he may know I am
friends witlr him for all his late cowardice.

Quest. But doth not this seem to countenance sin, and make
Christians heedless, whether they fall into temptations or no ? If
God does thus shew his love to his saints after their falls and foils^
why should we be so shy of sin, which ends so well at last ?

Ans. Two things will prevent the danger of such an inference.

First, We must distinguish between a soul's being foiled through
his own infirmity, and his enemies subtilty and power overmatch-
ing him, and another, who through a false heart doth voluntarily
prostrate himself to the lust of satan ; though a general will show
little pity to a soldier that should traitorously throw down his
arms and run to the enemy, yet if another in fighting receives a
wound and be worsted, it will be no dishonour for him to express
his pity and love ; no, though he should send him out of the field
in his own coach, lay him in his own bed, and appoint him his
own chirurgeon. God doth not encourage wickedness in a saint,
but pities weakness. Even when the saints fall into a sin in its
nature presumptuous, they do not commit it so presumptuously
as others : there is a part true to God in their bosoms, though
overvoted. Moses spake unadvisedly, but the devil had his in-
struments to provoke him, quite against the good man's temper.
David numbers the people, but see how the devil dogged and
haunted him, till at last he got the better, 1 Chron. xxi. 1. Satan
stood up and provoked David to number Israel. How bravely
did Job repel satan's darts ? No wonder if in such a shower some
one should get between the joints of his armour. And for Peter,
we know, good man, with what a loyal heart, yea, zealous, he
went into the field, though when the enemy appeared, his heart
failed him.

Secondly, Consider but the way how God communicates his
love after the saints falls, not in sinning, or for sinning, but in
mourning and humbling their souls for their sins. Indeed, did God
smile on them while acting sinfully, this might strengthen their
sin, as wine in a fever would the disease ; but when the fit is off,
the venom of the disease spent, and breathed out in a kindly hu-
miliation, now the creature lies low. God^s wine and comfort is
a cordial to the drooping spirit, not fuel for sin. When David
was led into the temptation first, he must be clad in sack-cloth
and mourning, and then God takes it off, and puts on a garment

of

Jgainst the Wiles of the Devil. 119

of joy and praise, I Chron. xxi. 10, 15. Job, though he exprefit
so much courage and patience, yet (bewraying some infirmities
after he was baited long by so many fresh dogs, men and devils)
he must cry peccavi, and abhor himself in dust and ashes, before
God will take him into his arms, Job xlii. 6. And the same way
God takes with his children. Now, to his saints in such a pos-
ture, God may with safety, to his honour and their good, give a
larger draught of his love than ordinary ; their fears and sorrow
which their sin hath cost them, will serve instead of water to daali
this strong wine of joy, and take away its headiness, that it nei-
ther fume up into pride, or occasion them to reel backward into
apostacy.

QuesL But why doth God now communicate his love ?

Arts, 1. First, from his pitiful nature ; You have heard of the
patience of Job^ and have seen the end of the Lord^ that the
Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy, God loves not to
rake in bleeding wounds ; he knows a mourning soul is subject to
be discouraged. A frown or angry look from God, whom the
saint so dearly loves, must needs go nearer the heart, therefore
God declares himself at hand to revive such, Isa. Ivii. 15. And
he gives the reason, v. 16. For I will not contend for ever^ nei"
ther will I be always wroth^ for the spirit should fail before me,
"Whose spirit is there meant? Not of the presumptuous sinner:
he goes on and never blunks, but of the contrite and humble ones.
As the father observes the disposition of his children, one com-
mits a fault and goes on rebelliously, despising his father's anger ;
another (when offending) lays it to heart, refuseth to eat, gets in-
to some corner to lament the displeasure of his father ; the father
sees it, and his bowels yearn towards him. Indeed, should he not
put his child out of fear by discovering his love, the spirit of such
a one would fail ; 'tis not possible there should be a long breach
between such a father and such a son, the one relenting over his
sin, the other over his mourning son.

Secondly, God doth thus, to pour the greater shame upon sa-
tan, who is the great make-bate between God and the soul. How
is the man ashamed that hath stirred up variance between husband
and wife, father and son, to see the breach made up, and all set
themselves against him ? It went ill on Christ's side, when Herod
and Pilate were made friends, and can it go well with sataa to
see all well between God and his children ? If Esther be in fa-
vour, Haman her enemy shall have his face covered. Indeed,
this covers satau*s face with shame, to see a poor saint even now
his prisoner, whom he had leave to rob and plunder, tempt and
<lisquiet, now sitting in the sunshine of God's love, while he like
a raving lion takes on for the loss of his prey.

Secondly, Satan's aim by to weaken the saint's faith on God,

H 3 ^n4

120 That ye ma^ he able to stand

and cool his love to God, but he is befooled in both: for, first, God
turns their temptations, yea, their falls, to the further establish-
ment of their faith, which (like the tree) stands stronger for its
shaking, or like the giant Anteus, who in his wrestling with Her-
cules is feigned to get strength by every fall to the ground. False
faith, indeed, once foiled, seldom comes on again ; but true faith
rises and fights more valiantly, as we see in Peter and other
scripture-examples. Temptation to faith is as fire to gold, I Pet.
i. 7. The fire doth not only discover which is true gold, but
makes the true gold more pure ; it comes out perhaps less in bulk
and weight, because severed from that soil and dross which em-
bossed it, but more in value and worth. When satan is bound
lip, and the Christian walks under the shines of divine favour, and
encouragement of divine assistance ; his faith may appear great,
if compared with another under the withdrawings of God, and
bufFetings of satan ; but this is not equal judgment ; as if to try
who is the biggest of two men, we should measure one naked, and
the other over his clothes ; or in comparing two- pieces of gold,
weigh one with the dross and dirt it contracts in the purse, with
the other purged from these in the fire : faith before temptation
hath such heterogeneal stuff in it, that cleaves to it. and goes for
faith ; but when temptation comes, these are discovered. Now
the Christian feels corruption stir, which lay as dead before ; now
a cloud comes between the soul and the sweet face of God (the
sense of which latter, and the little sense of the other bore up his
faith before) ; but these bladders pricked, he comes now to learn
the true stroke of this heavenly art of swimming on the promise,
having nothing else to bear him up but that ; and a little of thid
carries more of the precious nature of faith in it than all the
other ; yea, is (like Gideon's handful of men) stronger, when all
these accessaries to faith are sent away, than when they were pre-
sent ; and here is all the devil gets : instead of destroying his
faith which he aims at, he is the occasion of refining of it, and
thereby adding to its strength.

Secondly, The love of tempted saints is enkindled to Christ
by their temptations, and foils in their temptations. Possibly in
the fit there may seem a damp upon their love, as when water is
first sprinkled upon the fire ; but when the conflict is a little over,
and the Christian comes to himself, his love to Christ will break
out like a vehement flame. First, the shame and sorrow which
a gracious soul must needs feel in his bosom for his sinful miscar-
riage, while under the temptation, will provoke him to express
his love to Christ above others ; as is sweetly set forth in the
gpouse, who, when the cold fit of her distemper was oflT, and the
temptation over, bestirs her to purpose, her lazy sickness was tur-
ned to love-sickness f she finds it as hard now to sit, as she did

before

Against the Wiles of the Devil, 121

before to rise ; she cau rest in no place out of her beloved's sight,
but runs and asks every one she meets for him. And whence
come all this veheraency of her zeal ? All occasioned by her un-
dutiful carriage to her husband ; she parted so unkindly with him,
that (bethinking what she had done) away she goes to make her
peace. If sins committed in unregeneracy have such a force upon
a gracious soul, that the thought of them, though pardoned, will
still break and melt the heart into soitow (as we see in Magda-
len), and prick on to shew zeal for God above others (as in Paul),
how much more will the sins of a saint, who after sweet acquain-
tance with Jesus Christ, lifts up the heel against that bosom where
he hath lain, affect, yea, dissolve, the heart, as into so many drops
of water, and that sorrow provoke him to serve God at a higher
rate than others ! No child so dutiful in all the family, as he who
is returned from his rebellion. Again, Secondly, As his own
shame, so the experience which such a one hath of Christ's love
above others, will increase his love. Christ's love is fuel to ours.
Ex eisdem nutrimur quibm constamus ; as it gives it being, so
it affords growth : it is both mother and nurse to our love. The
more Christ puts forth his love, the more heat our love gets, and
next to Christ's dying love, none greater than his succouring love
in temptation. The mother never hath such advantage, to shew
her affection to her child, as when in distress, sick, poor, or im-
prisoned ; so neither hath Christ to his children as when temp-
ted, yea, worsted by temptation. When his children lie in satan's
prison, bleeding under the wounds of their consciences, this is the
season he takes to give an experiment of his tender heart in pity-
ing, his faithfulness in praying for them, his mindfulness in send-
ing succour to them, yea, his dear love in visiting them by his
comforting spirit. Now when the soul hath got off some great
temptation, and reads the whole history thereof together, (wherein
he finds what his own weakness was to resist satan, nay, his un-
faithfulness in complying with satan, which might have provoked
Christ to leave him to the fury of satan) ; now to see both his
folly pardoned, and ruin graciously prevented, and that by no
other hand but by Christ's coming to his rescue (as Abishai to
David, 2 Sam. xxi. when the giant thought to have slain him),
this must needs exceedingly endear Christ to the soul. At the
reading of such records, the Christian cannot but enquire, as Aha-
suerus concerning Mordecai, who by discovering a treason had
saved the King's life, what honour had been done to his sweet
Saviour for all this. And thus Jesus Christ, whom satan thought
to bring out of the soul's favour and liking, comes in the end to
sit higher and surer in the saint's affection than ever.

h4 CHAP.

122 That T/e may he able to stand

CHAP. X.

A brief Application of the Point ; in two Branches,

Use 1. npHIS affords a reason why God suiFers his dear children
-* to fall into temptation, because he is able to outshoot
satan in his own bow, and, in the thing wherein he thinks to out-
wit the Christian, to be above him. God will not only be admired
by his saints in glory, for his love in their salvation, but for his
wisdom in the way to it. The love of God in saving them will
be the sweet draught at the marriage-feast, and the rare wisdom
of God in effecting this, as the curious workmanship with which
the cup shall be enamelled. JSow wisdom appears most in unty-
ing of knots, and wading through difficulties. The more cross
wurds there are in a business, the more wisdom to fit a key to the
lock, to make choice of such means as shall meet with the several
turnings in the same. On purpose therefore doth God suffer such
temptations to intervene, that his wisdom may be the more ad-
mired in opening all these, and leading his saints that way to glory,
by which satan thought to have brought them to hell. The Is-
raelites are bid remeniber all the ivaif that God ltd them in the
wilderness for forty years^ Deut. viii. 2. The history of these
wars. Christian, will be pleasant to read in heaven, though bloody
to fight on earth. Moses and Elias talked with Christ on Tabor
(an emblem of the sweet communion which shall pass between
Christ and his saints in glory) ; and what was their talk, Luke
ix. 30. but of his death and sufferings ? It seems a discourse of
our sufferings and temptations are not too low a subject for that
blissful state. Indeed this left out, would make a blemish in the
fair face of heaven's glory. Could the damned forget the way
they went into hell, how oft the spirit of God was wooing, and
how far they were overcome by the conviction of it ; in a word,
how many turns and returns there were in their journey forward
and backward, what possibilities, yea probabilities, they had for
heaven, when on earth ; were but some hand so kind as to blot
these tormenting passages out of their memories, it would ease
them wonderfully. So, were it possible glorified saints could for-
get the way wherein they went to glory, and the several dangers
that intervened frcii satan and their own backsliding hearts, they
and their God too would be losers by it, I mean in regard of his
manifestative glory. What is the glory wherein God appears at
Zion's deliverance, those royal garments of salvation that make
him admired of men and angels, but the celebration of all his at-
tributes, according to what every one hath done towards their sal-
vation ? Now wisdom being that which the creature chiefly glories

in

Against the Wiles of the DevU. 123

in, (and chosen by satan for his first bait, who made Eve believe
she should be like God in knowledge and wisdom), therefore God,
to give satan the more shameful fall, gives him leave to use his '
wits and wiles in tempting and troubling his children, in which
lies his great advantage over the saints, that so the way to his
own throne (where liis wisdom shall, at last, as well as his mercy,
sit in all its royalty) may be paved with the skulls, as I may so
speak, of devils.

Secondly, This gives a strong cordial to our fainting faith, in
the behalf of the church of Christ. If all the devil's wits and
wiles will not serve him to overcome one single soldier in Christ's
camp, much less shall he ever ruin the whole army. These are
days of great confusion in the Christian world, and the chief fear
of a gracious heart is for the ark, lest that should fall into the
enemies hand, and when this palladium is taken, the city of God
(his church) be trod under the feet of pride. I confess satan
seems to get ground daily ; he hath strangely wriggled into the
bosoms and principles of many, who, by the fame of their profes-
sion and zeal, had obtained in the opinion of others to be reckoned
among the chief of Christ's worthies in their generation. He hath
sadly corrupted the truths of Christ, brought a disesteem on ordi- ,
nances, (that by this, and as a judgment for this, the womb of
the gospel is become in a great measure barren, and her children
which hang about her breasts, thrive not in love and holiness as
of old, when the milk was not so much nor that so spiritual) : he
hath had advantage by the divisions of the godly, to harden those
that are wicked into a further disdain of religion, and by the
bloody wars of late yearsi, to boil up the wrath of the popish and
prophane crew to a higher pitch of rage and fury against Christ's
little remnant than ever ; so that if ever God should sulTer the
sword to fall into their hand, they are disciplined and fitted to
play the bloody butchers on Christ's sheep above their forefathers;
neither are they so crest-fallen, but that they can hope for such
a day, yea, take up some of those joys upon trust aforehand to
solace themselves, while the rest follow. And now. Christian,
perhaps their confidence, together with the distracted state of
Christ's affairs in the world, may discompose thy spirit, concern-
ing the issue of these providences that are rolling over our heads ;
but be still, poor heart, and know, that the contest is not between
the church and satan, but between Christ and him ; these are the
two champions. Stand now, O ye army of saints, still by faith,
to see the all-wise God wrestle with the subtle devil. If you
live not to see the period of these great confusions, yet genera-
tions after you shall behold the Almighty smite off this Goliath's
head with his own sword, aijd take this cunning hunter in the toil
of his own policies ; that faith which ascribes greatness and wis-

dom

124 That ye may he able to stand, S\c»

dom to God, will shrink up satan's subtilty into a nigrum nihil,
a thing of nothing. Increduli timent diaholuju., quasi leonem^
qui fide fortes despiciunt quasi vermicidum^ Bern. Unbelief
fears sat an as a lion, faith treads on him as a worm. Behold
therefore thy God at work, and promise thyself, that what he is
about will be an excellent piece ; none can drive him from his
work. The pilot is beaten from the helm, and can do little in a
storm but let the ship go adrift. The architect cannot work
when night draws the curtain, yea, is driven off the scaffold with
a storm of rain ; such workmen are the wisest counsellors, and
mightiest princes on earth. A pinch may come, when it is as
vain to say, Help O king, as. Help O beggar ; man's wisdom
may be levelled with folly, but God is never interrupted. All
the plots of hell and commotions on earth have not so much as
shaken God's hand, to spoil one letter or line that he hath been
drawing. The mysteriousness of his providence may hang a cur-
tain before his work, that we cannot see what he is doing ; but
then when darkness is about him^ righteousness is the seat of his
throne for ever. O where is our faith (Sirs I) let God be wise,
and all men and devils fools. A^hat though thou seest a Babel
more likely to go up, than a Babylon to be pulled down, yet be-
lieve God is making his secret approaches, and will clap his lad-
ders on a sudden to the walls thereof : Suppose truth were priso-
ner with Joseph, and error the courtier, to have its head lift up
by the favour of the times, yet doest not remember, that the way
to truth's preferment lies through the prison ; yea, what thougji
the church were like Jonah in the whale's belly, swallowed up, to
the eye of reason, by the fury of men ; yet doest not remember
the whale had not power to digest the prophet ? O be not too
quick to bury the church before she be dead. Stay while Christ
tries his skill before you give it over ; bring Christ by your praj^-
ers to its grave, to speak a resurrection word. Admirable hath
the saints faith been in such straits ; as Joseph's, who pawned his
bones that God would visit his brethren, willing them to lay him
Tvhere he believed they should be brought. Jeremiah purchased
a field of his uncle, and pays down the money for it, and this when
the Chaldean army quartered about Jerusalem, ready to take the
city, and carry him with the rest into Babylon ; and all this by
God's appointment, Jer. xxii. 6, 7, 8. that he might shew the
Jews by this, how undoubtedly he (in that sad juncture of time)
did believe the performance of the promise for their return out of
captivity. Indeed God counts himself exceedingly disparaged in
tjie thoughts of his people (though at the lowest ebb of his church's
affairs), if his naked word, and single bond of his promise, will
not be taken as sufficient security to their faith for its deliverance.

VERSE

Fbr tee wrestle, 125

VERSE 12.

iFor we wrestle not against Tlesli and Bloody hut against Prin-
cipalUies and Powers^ against the Riders of the Darkness of
this Worlds against spiritual Wickedness in high Places.

THE words are coupled to the precedent with tliat casual par-
ticle For^ which either refers to the two foregoing verses,
and theu they are a further reason, pressing the necessity of
Christian fortitude in the tenth verse, and furniture in the ele-
venth ; or else to the last words of the eleventh verse, where the
apostle having descried the saint's grand enemy to be satan, and
described him in one of his attributes, his wily subtilty, he in this
further displays him in his proper coloui*s, not to weaken tlie
saints hands, but waken their care, that seeing their enemy march-
ing up in a full bodv, they might stand in better order to receive
his charge. Where, by the way, we may observe the apostle's
simplicity aud plain dealing; he doth not undervalue the strength
of the enemy, and represent him inconsiderable, as captains use
to keep their soldiers together by slighting the power of their ad-
versary ; no, he tells them the worst at first. If satan had been
to set out his own power, he could have challenged no more than
is here granted him. See here the difference between Christ's
dealing with his followers, and satan with his. Satan dares not
let sinners know who that God is they fight against ; this were
enough to breed a mutiny in the devil's camp. Silly souls I they
are drawn into the field by a false report of God and his ways,
and are kept there together with lies and fair tales ; but Christ is
not afraid to shew his saints their enemyin all his power and prin-
cipality, the weakness of God being stronger than the powers of
hell.

»'V»^»^V%%'VV^%^'V%'V%'WVW»

CHAP. I.

Sheweth the Cht^tiari's Life here to he a continual Wrestling
with Sin and Satan^ and the Paucity of those who are trite
Wrestlers ; as also how the true Wrestlers should manage their
Combat,

•T^HE words contain a lively description of a bloody and lasting
■* war between the Christian and his implacable enemy; iu
which we raay observe.

First, Hie Christian's state in this life, set out by this word

wrestling.

Secondly,

126 For we wresth*

Secondly, The assailants that appear in arms against the Chris-
tian, who are described ; First, negatively, Nbtjlesh and blood :
Or rather comparatively, not chiefly flesh and blood. Secondly,
positively, but against principalities^ powers^ S^c,

SECT. I. — First, For the first, the wrestling or conflicting
state of a Christian in this life is rendered observable here by a
threefold circumstance.

First, The kind of combat which the Christian's state is here
set out by, which though it be used sometimes for a WTCstling of
sport and recreation, yet here to set out the sharpness of the
Christian's encounter; there are two things in wrestling that
render it a sharper combat than others. First, Wrestling is not
properly fighting against a multitude, but when one enemy singles
out another, and enters the lists with him, each exerting their
•whole force and strength against one another, as David and Go-
liath, when the whole armies stood as it were in a ring to behold
the bloody issue of that duel. Now this was more fierce than to
fight in an army, where though the battle be sharp and long, the
soldier is not always engaged, but falls oflP when he hath dischar-
ged, and takes breath awhile ; yea, possibly may escape without
hurt or stroke, because there the enemy's aim is not at this or that
man, but at the whole heap : but in wrestling, one cannot escape
so ; he, being the particular object of the enemy^s fury, must needs
be shaken and tried to purpose. Indeed the word signifies such
a strife, as makes the body shake again. Satan hath not only a
general malice against the army of saints, but a spite against thee
John, thee Joan : he'll single thee out for his enemy. We find
Jacob when alone, a man wrestled with. As God delights to
have private communication with his single saints, so the devil to
tvj it hand to hand with the Christian, when he gets him alone.
As we lose much comfort, when we do not apply the promise and
providence of God to our particular persons and conditions ; God
loves me, pardons me, takes care of me ; the water at the town-
conduit doth me no good, if I want a pipe to empty it into my
cistern; so it obstructs our care and watchfulness, when we con-
ceive of satan's wrath and fury as bent in general against the saints,
and not against me in particular. O how careful would a soul be
in duty, if, as going to church or closet, he had such a serious me-
,ditation as this. Now satan is at my heels to hinder me in my
work, if my God help me not !

Secondly, 'Tis a close combat. Armies fight at some distance,
wrestlers grapple at hand. An arrow shot from afar may be seen
and shunned ; but when the enemy hath hold of one, there is no
declining, but either he must resist manfully, or fall shamefully at
his enemy's feet. Satan comes close up, and gets within the
Christian, takes his hold of his very flesh and corrupt nature, an4

by this shakes hiia«

Secondly,

JFor we m^estle^. 127

SeGondly, Tlie universality of the combat. We wrestle, which
comprehends all ; you may perceive the apostle on purpose chan-
geth the pronoun j/e, in the former verse, into we in this, that he
may include himself {is well as them ; asif he had said, the quarrel
is with every saint. Satan neither fears to assault the minister,
nor despiseth to wrestle with the meanest saint in the congrega-
tion ; great and small, minister and people, all must wrestle ; Not
one part of Christ's array in the field, and the other at ease in their
quarters, where no enemy comes ; here are enemies enough to en-
gage all at once.

Thirdly, The permanency or duration of this combat, and that
lies in the tense. Not, our wrestling was at first conversion, but
HOW over, and we past the pikes ; not, we shall wrestle when sick-
ness comes, and oeath comes ; but our wrestling is, the enemy is
ever in sight of us, yea, in fight with us ; there is an evil of every
day's temptation, which Clike Paul's bonds) abides us wherever
we coii^. So that these particulars summed up, will amount ta
this point :

SECT. II. — Doct* The Christian's life is a continual wrestling.
He is, as Jeremy said of himself, born a man of strife, or what the
prophet to Asa, may be said to every Christian ; From hence thou
sJikiH have ivars^ from thy spiritual birth to thy natural death, from
the hour when thou first didst set thy face to heaven, till thou shalt
set thy foot in heaven. Israel's march out of Egypt was in gos-
pel-sense, our taking the field against sin and sataii ; and when hfid
they peace? Not till they lodged their colours in Canaan, l^o
condition wherein the Christian here below is quiet. Is it pros-
perity or adversity ? Here is work for both hands, to keep pride
and security down in the one, faith and patience up in the other j
no place, which the Christian can call privileged ground. Lot in
Sodom wrestled with the wicked inhabitants thereof^ his righteous
soul being vexed with their unclean conversation. And how fares
he at Zoar ? Do not his own daughters bring a spark of Sodom's
fire into his own bed, whereby he is enflamcd with lust ? Some have
thought if they were in such a family, under such a ministrj'^, out
of such occasions, O then they never should be tempted as now
they are : I confess change of air is a gi'eat help to weak nature,
and these forenamed as vantage-ground against satan ; but thinkest
thou to fly from satan's presence thus ? No, though thou shouldst
take the wings of the morning, he would fly after thee ; these may
make him change his method of tempting, but not lay down his
design ; so long as his old friend is alive within, be will be knock-
ing at the door without. No duty can be performed without wrest-
ling : The Christian needs his sword as much as his trowel. He
wrestles with a body of flesh ; he cannot go his journey without
it, and much ado to go with it. If the flesh be kept high and Lusty,

thea

128 pGt' we ivresth*

then 'tis wanton and will not obey ; if low, then 'tis weak, and
soon tires : Thus the Christian rides but little ground, because he
must g-o his weak body's pace. He wrestle's with a body of sin
as well as flesh ; this mutters and murmurs when the soul is tak-
ing up any duty. Sometimes it keeps the Christian from duty, so
that he cannot do what he would ; as Paul said^ I would have come
once and agnin, hut safan hindered me, I would have prayed,
may the Christian say, at such a time, and meditated on the word
1 heard, the mercies I received, at another, but this enemy hinder-
ed. 'Tis true indeed, grace sways the sceptre in such a soul ; yet
as school-boys, taking their time when their master is abroad, do
shut him out, and for a while lord it in misrule, though they are
whipt for it afterwards ; thus the unregenerate part takes advan-
tage when grace is not on its watch, to disturb its government, and
shut it out from duty ; though this last makes the soul more severe
in mortifying, yet it costs some scuffle before it can recover its
throne, and when it caunot shut from duty, yet then is the Chris-
tian wofully yoked with it in duty ; it cannot do what it doth as
it would : many a letter in its copy doth this enemy spoil, while
he jogs him with impertinent thoughts ; when the Christian is pray-
ing, then satan and the flesh are a-pi*ating ; he cries, and they loud-
er, to put him out, or drown liis cry. Thus we see the Christian is
assailed on every side by his enemy ; and how can it be other, when
the seeds of war are laid deep in the natures of both, which can
never be rooted up till the devil cease to be a devil, sin to be sin,
and the saint to be a saint ? Though wolves may snarl at one ano-
ther, yet soon are quiet again, because the quarrel is not in their
nature ; but the wolf and the lamb can never be made fiiends.
Sin will lust against grace, and grace draw upon sin whenever they
meet.

SECT. III. — Use I. First, This may reprove such as wrestle ;
but against whom ? against God, not against sin and satan. . These
are bold men indeed, who dare try a fall with the Almighty ; yet
such there are, and a woe is pronouiTCed against them, Isa. xlv. 9.
Wo unto him that striveth with his Maker. 'Tis easy to tell
which of these will be worsted. What can he do, but break his
.shins, that dasheth them against a i*ock ? A goodly battle there is
like to be, when thorns contest with lire, and stubble with flame.
But where live those giants, that dare enter the lists with the great
God? What are their names, that we may know them, and brand
them for creatures, above all other, unworthy to live ? Take heed^,
O thou who askest, that the wretched man whom thou seemest so
to defy, be not found in thy own clothes itself. Judas was the trai-
tor, though he would not answer unto his name, but put it oft'
with a Mastery is it I? and so mayest thou be the fighter against
God. The heart is deceitful. Even holy David, for all his an-
ger

For we wrestle* 129

ger was so hot against tlie rich man, that took away the poor man's
ewe-lamb, that he bound it with an oath, tlie man should not live
who had done it, yet proves at last to be hiraseU' the man, as the
prophet told him, 2 Sam. xii.

Now there are two ways wherein men wrestle against God : First,
When they wrestle against his spiiit. Secondly, A\ heu they wrestle
against his providence.

First, When they wrestle against his spirit. We read of the
spirit's striving with tlie creature, Gen. vi. 3. My spirit shall not
alwm/s strive with man : where the striving is not in anger and
wrath to destroy them Cthat God could do without any stir or
scuffle), but a loving strife and contest with man. The old world
was running with such a career headlong unto their ruin, he sends
his spirit to interpose, and by his counsels and reproofs, to offer,
as it were, to stop and reclaim them ; as if one seeing another
i-eady to offer violence on himself, should strive to get the knife
out of his hand, with which he would do the mischief: Or one
that hath a purse of gold in his hand to give, should follow another
by all manner of entreaties, striving with him to accept and take
it. Such a kind of strife is this of the spirit's with men. They
are the lusts of men (those bloody instruments of death, with which
sinners are mischieving themselves) that the holy spirit strives
by sweet counsels and entreaties to get out of our hands. They
are Christ's, his grace and eternal life he strives to make us ac-
cept at the hands of God's mercy ; and for repulsing the spirit
thus striving with them, sinners are justly counted fighters against
God : Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears^ ye do
always resist the Holy Ghmt, Acts vii. 5 1 . Now there is a two-
fold striving of the spirit, and so of our wrestling against it. Fiist,
The spirit strives in his messengers with sinners : They coming
his errand, and not their own, he voucheth the faithful counsels,
reproofs, and exhortations, which they gave, as his own act. Noah,
that /?reacAer of righteousness^ what he said to the old world, is
called the preaching of the spirit , I Pet.iii. 19. The pains that Mo-
ses, Aaron, and other servants of God, took in instructing Israel,
is called the instruction of the spirit, Nehem. ix. 20. So that
when the word which God's ministers bring in his name, is rejec-
ted, the faithful counsels they give are thrown at sinners heels,
and made light of, then do they strive with the spirit, and wrestle
against Christ as retilly, as if he visibly, in his own person, had
been in the pulpit, and preached the sermon to them. When God
comes to reckon with sinners, it will preveso ; then God will rub
up your memories, and mind you of his striving with you, and your
unkind resisting him. 'Vhey^ whether they will hear^ or whether
they will forbear^ shall know they had a prophet among them^
Ezek. ii. 5. Now men soon forget whom and what they hear ; ask

them

130 For we wrestle,

them what was prest upon their conscience in such a sermon, they
have forgot ; what were the precious truths laid out in another,
and they are lost ; and well were it for them, if their memories
were no better in another world ; it would ease their torments
more than a little. JBut then they shall know they had a prophet
among them, and what a price they had with him in their hands, tho'
it was in fools keeping. They shall know what it was, and what he
said, though a thousand years past, as fresh as if it were done but
last night. The more zealous and compassionate, the more pain-
ful and powerful he was in his place, the greater shall their sin
be found, to break from such holy violence offered to do them good.
Surely God will have something for the sweat, yea, lives of his
servants, which were worn out in striving with such rebellious
ones. May be yet, sinners, your firmament is clear, no cloud to
be seen that portends a storm ; but know (as you use to say) win-
ter does not rot in the clouds, you shall have it at last ; every
threatening which your faithful ministers have denounced against
you out of the word, God is bound to make good. He confirm^
eth the word ofhisservunt, and performeth the counsel of his mes-
sengers, Isa. xliv. 21. and that in judgment against sinners, con-
firming the threatenings, as well as in mercy performing the pro-
mises, which they declare as the portion of his children. But it
will be time enough to ask such on sick-bed, or a dying hour,
whether the words of the Lord delivered by their faithful preach-
ers have not taken hold of them. Some have confessed with hor-
ror, they have, as the Jews, Zech. i. 6. Like as the Lord of
Hosts thought to do mito us^ so hath he dealt with us. Secondly,
the spirit strives with men more immediately, when he takes his
inward approaches to the consciences of men, debating in their
own bosoms the case with them ; one while he shews them their
sins in their bloody colours, and whither they will surely bring
them, if not looked to timely, which he doth so convincing!}^, that
the creature smells sometimes the very fire and brimstone about
him, and is at present in a temporal hell ; another while he falls a
parleying and treating with them, making gracious overtures to
the sinner, if he will return at his reproof, presents the grace of
the gospel, and opens a door of hope for his recovery, yea, falls
a wooingand beseeching of him to throw down his rebellious arms,
and come to Christ for life, whose heart is in a present dispositaon
to receive and embrace the first motion the returning sinner makes
for mercy. Now when the spirit of God follows the sinner from
place to place, and time to time, suggesting such motions, and re-
newing his old suit, and the creature shall fling out of the spirit's
hands thus striving with him, re infecta^ as far from renouncing
his lusts, or taking any liking to Christ as ever ; this is to resist
the spirit to his i\ice, and it carries so much malignity in it, that

(eveft

Por we wrestle, 131

(even where it hath not been final) poor humbled souls have beeu
overset with the horror of it, that they could not for a long time
be persuaded, but that it was the unpardonable sin. Take heed,
therefore, sinners, how you use the spirit when he comes, knock-
ing at the door of your hearts : Open at his knock, and he will be
your guest, you shall have his sweet company ; repulse him, and
you have not a promise he will knock again. And if once he
leave striving with thee, unhappy man, thou art lost for ever ;
thou liest like a ship cast up by the waves upon some high rock,
where the tide never comes to fetch it off. Thou roayest come
to the word, converse with other ordinances, but in vain. 'Tis
the spirit of them which is both tide and wind, to set the soul a-
float, and carry it on, or else it lies like a ship on dry ground, which
stirs not.

Secondly, AVe wrestle against God when we wrestle with his
providence, and that two ways ; First, when w^e are discontented
with Iiis providential disposure of us. God's carving for us doth not
please us so, but that we are objecting against his dealings towards
us, at least muttering something with the fool in our hearts, which
God hears as lightly as man our words. God counts then we be-
gin to quarrel with him, when we do not acquiesce in, and say
amen to his providence, wherever it is. He calls it a contending
with the Almighty^ Job xl. 1. yea, a reproving of God, And he
is a bold man sure that dare find fault with God, and article
against heaven. God challeugeth him, whoever he is that doth
this, to answer it at his peril. He that reproveth God, let him
answer it^ v. 2. of the chapter forementioned. It was high time
for Job to have done, when he hears what a sense God puts upon
those unwary w ords, which dropt from him in the anguish of his
spirit and paroxysm of his sufferings ; contend with the Almighty !
Reprove God ! Good man, how blank he is, and cries out, lam
vile, what shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand upon my
mouth. Let God but pardon what is past, and he shall hear such
language no more. () sirs, take heed of this wrestling above all
other. Contention is uncomfortable, with whomsoever it is we
fall out : neighbours or friends, wife or husband, children or ser-
vants ; but -worst of all with God. If God cannot please thee,
but thy heart riseth against him, what hopes are there of thy
pleasing him, who will take nothing kindly from that man who is
angry with him ? And how can love to God be preserved in a
discontented heart that is always muttering against him ? Love
cannot think any evil of God, nor endure to hear any speak evil
of him, but it must take God's part, as Jonathan David's, when
Saul spake basely of him ; and when it cannot be heard, will, like
him, arise and be gone. When afflicted, love can allow thee to
groan, but not to grumble. If thou wilt ease thy incumbered

I spirit

f J j^ / For mtmestle,

spirit into God's bosom by prayer, and humbly wrestle with God
On thy knees, love is for thee, and will help thee to the best ar-
gumen,ts thou canst use to God : But if thou wilt vent thy dis-
tempered passions, and shew a mutinous spirit against God, this
sjtabs it to the heart.

Secondly, We wrestle against providence, when incorrigible
under the vaiious dispensations of God towards us. Providence
has a voice, if we had an ear ; mercies should draw, afflictions
drive ; now when neither fair meajis nor foul do us good, but wc
are impenitent under both, this is to wrestle against God with
both hands. Either of these have their peculiar aggravations.
One is against love, and so disingenuous ; the other is against the
smart of his rod, and therein we slight his anger, and are cruel
to ourselves in kicking against the pricks. Mercy should make
us ashamed, wrath afraid to sin. He that is not ashamed has not
the spirit of a man. He that is not afraid when smitten, is worse
than a beast, who stands in awe of whip and spur. Sometimes
mercy (especially these outward mercies, which have a pleasing
relish to the carnal part in a Christian) hath proved a snare to
the best of men : But then affliction useth to recover them ; but
when affliction makes men worse, and they harden themselves a-
gainst God, to sin more and more while the rod is on them, what
is like to reclaim them ? Few are made better by prosperity,
whom afflictions make worse. He that will sin, though he goes
in pain, will much more if that once be gone. But take heed of
thus, contesting with God. There is nothing got by scuffling with
God, but blows or worse. If he say he will afflict thee no more,
'tis even the worst he can say ; His as much as if he should say,
he will be in thy debt till another world, and there pay thee altO'
gether. But if he means thee mercy, thou shah hear from him
in some sharper affliction than ever. He hath wedges that can
live thee, wert thou a more knotty piece than thou art. Are
there yet the treasurer of wickedness, and the scant measure that
ts ahommahle ? (saith iGod to Israel, Micah vi. 9.^ What ! in-
corrigible, though the Lord's voice crwth unto the cily, bidding
you Aefli* the rod ^ and him that hath appointed it 9 See what
^course God resolves on, v. 13. Therefore 1 mil make thee sick
in smiting of thee : as if he had said. My other physic I see was
too weak, it did not work to turn your stomach, but I will pre-
pare a potion that shall make you sick at heart.

Secondly, It reproves those who seem to wrestle against sin,
hilt not according to the word of command that Christ gives.
There is a law in wrestling which must be observed, 2 Tim. ii. 5.
If a man al^o strive for masteries^ tfet he is not crowned^ except
he stin,ve lawfully. He alludes to the Boman games, to which
there were judges appointed to see that no foul play were oftere^d

contrary

J^' we 2cresGe. ' 133

o©ntrarj fo tlie law for wiKstliiig ; the prize being ^eaied to such,
thou4i they did foil itheir adversary, which tlie apostle improves
to make the jChrietian careful in his war, as being under a stricter
law and discipiine, that ref[aires aotonly valour to light, but obc
dk«ce to fighit, by ordci-, and according to the word of commandj:
Now jfcwdo this that go for great wrestlei-s.

First, Some, while they wrestle against one a[n, embrace ano-
ther 5 and in this case, ^itis not the person wrestles against sin,
bat one sin wi^stles with another, and 'tis qo wonder to sec
thieves Mi out when they coiac to divide the sjDoil ; lusts are rfe-
t^rs. Tit. iv. 3. and 'tis feaid to please many masters, especially
wt>en tiieir commands are eo o«otr.ary ; when jwide bids lay on ia
hraverj^, lavish out in eHtej^tainment, covetousmess bids lay up 5
when malice bids reveiige, cartial policy saith, C^ceal thy wrath,
thongli not forgive. Wiien last sends to his whores, hypocrisy
pulls him back for shame of tlie world. Now, is be God's chai; •
jMon that resists one sin at the command of another, it may be si
worse ?

Secondly, Some wrestle, but they are pcest into the field, not
volunteers, their slavish fear scares tl>em at present from their
lust ; fio that tlie combjit is rather betwixt their conscience and
win, than them and their lust: Give me such a sin, saith will ;
no, saith conscience, it will scald, and throws it away. A man
may love the vvi«e, though he is loth to have his lips burnt ; hy-
pocrites themseivt's are afraid to burn, Li such combats tlie
will at last prevails, either by bribing the understanding to pre-
sent the lust it desires in a more pleasing dress (that conscience
may not be scared with such hideous apparitions of wrath), or by
pacifying conscience with some promise of repentance for the fu-
tuie, or by forbearing some sin for the present, which it can best
spare ; thereby to gain tlie reputation of something like reforma-
tion ; or if all this will not do, then (prompted by the fury of its
lust) the will proclaims open war against conscience, sinning in
the tace of it ; like some wild hors-e (impatient of the spur which
pricks him, and bridle that curbs him), gets the hit between his
teeth, and runs with full speed, till at last he easeth himself of his
rider ; and then where he sees fattest pasture, no hedge or ditch
can withhold him, till in the end you find him starving in some
pond for his trespass: Thus many sin at such a rate, that consci-
ence can no longer Iwld the reins, nor sit the saddle, but is thrown
down and laid for dead ; and then the wretches range where their
lusts have the fullest meal, till at last they pay tor their stolen
pleasui-es most dearly, when conscience comes to itself, pursues
them, and takes them more surelv by the throat than ever, never
to let them go till it brings them before God's tribunal.

Thirdly, Others wrestle w ith sin, but they do not hate it, and

i'^ " therefore

154 For tie wresfleJ

therefore they are favourable to it, and seek not the life of sin a-sr
their deadly enemy ; these wrestle in jest, and not in earnest ; the
wounds they give sin one day, are healed by the next. Let men
resolve never so strongly against sin, yet it will creep again into
their favour, till the love of sin be quenehed in the heart ; and
this fire will never die of itself ; the love of Christ must quench
the love of sin, as Jerome excellently, Unus amor extingmt altmn.
This heavenly fire will indeed put out that flame of hell, which he
illustrates by Ahashuerus's carriage to Vashti, his Queen, who in
the first chapter makes a decree in all haste, that she comes no
more before him ; but when his passion is a little down, c. ii. v. 1 .
he begins to relent towards her, which his council perceiving, pre-
tently seek out for a beautiful virgin, on whom the king might
place his love, and take into his ro5^al bed, which done, we hear
no more of Vashti ; then, and not till then, will the soul's decree
€tand against sin, when the soul hath taken Christ into his bosom.

SECT. IV. — Secondly, To the saints, seeing your life is a con-
tinual wrestling here on earth, 'tis your wisdom to study how you
may best manage the combat with )'Our worst enemy ; which
that you may do, take these few directions :

First, Look thou goest not into the field without thy second ;
my meaning is, engage God by pra} er to stand at thy back ; God
is in a league offensive and defensive with thee, but he looks to
be called. Did the Ephraimites take it ill, that Gideon called not
them into the field, and may not^od much more ? As if thou
meanest to steal a victory before he should know it, 'Vhou hast
more valour than Moses, who would not stir without God ; no
though he sent an angel for his lieutenant. Thou art wiser than
Jacob, who to overcome Esau, now marching up, turns from him
and falls upon God ; he knew if he could wrestle with God, lie
might trust God to deal with his brother. Engage God, and tlic
back-door is shut, no enemy can come behind thee; yea, thine
enemy shall fall before thee. God, turn the wisdom of Ahitophel
into foolishness, saith David ; heaven saith amen to his prayer,,
and the wretch hangs hiinself.

Secondly, Be very careful of giving thine enemy hand-hold.
Wrestlers strive to fasten upon some part or other, which gives
them advantage more easily to throw their adversary ; to preveat
which, they used. First, to lay aside their garments. Secondly,
to anoint their bodies. For the first, Christian, labour to put off
the old man, which is most personal, that corruption which David
calls his own iniquity, Psal. xviii. I<i3. This is the skirt which
satan lays hold of; observe what it is, and mortify it daily, then
satan will retreat with shame, when he sees the head of that ene-
my upon the wall, which should have betrayed thee into his hands.

Secondly, Tlie Koraan wrestlers used to anoint their bodies ;

For we wrestle. 135

io do thou: Bathe thy soul with the frequent meditation of
Christ's love. Satan will find little welcome where Christ's love
dwells j love will kindle love, and that will be as a wall of fire to
keep off satan ; it will make thee disdain the offer of a sin, and,
as oil, supple thy joints, and make agile to offend thy enemy.
Think how Christ wrestled in thy quarrel : Sin, hell, and wrath,
had all come M\ mouth upon thee, had not he coped with them in
the way. And canst thou find in thy heart to requite his love,
by betraying his glory into the hands of sin, by cowardice or
treachery ? Say not thou lovest him, so long as thou canst lay
those sins in thy bosom, which plucked his heart out of his bo-
som. It were strange if a child should keep, and delight to use
BO other knife, but that wherewith his father was stabbed.

Thirdly, Improve the advantage thou gettest at any time wisely.
Sometimes the Christian hath his enemy on the hip, yea, on the
ground, can set his foot on the very neck of his pride, and throw
away his unbelief, as a thing absurd and unreasonable ; now (as a
wise wrestler) fall with all thy weight upon thine enemy ; though
a man think it foul play to strike when his adversary is down,
yet do not thou so compliment with sin, as to let it breathe or rise.
Take heed thou beest not charged of God, as once Ahab, for let-
ting go this enemy now in thy hands, whom God hath appointed
to destruction. Learn a little wisdom of the serpent's brood,
who when they had Christ under their foot, never thought they
had him sure enongh ; no, not when dead, and therefore both seal
and watch his grave. Thus do thou to hinder the resurrection of
thy sin, seal it down with stronger j)urposes, solemn covenants,
and watch it by a wakeful circumspect walking.

Uae 3, This is ground of consolation to the weak Christian,
who disputes against the truth of his grace, fioip the inward con-
victs and fightings he hath with his lusts, and is ready to say (like
Gideon, in regard of outward enemies). If God be with we, uli;y
ta ail this befallen me 9 Why do I find such strugglings in me,
provoking me to sin, pulling me back from tliat which is good ?
Why doest thou ask ? The answer is soon given, because thou art
a wrestler, not a conqueror. Thou mistakest the state of a Chris-
tian in this life ; when one is made a Christian, he is not presently
called to triumph ov«r his slain enemies, but carried into the field
to meet and fight them. The state of grace is the commencing
of a war against sin, not the ending of it ; rather than thou shalt
not have an enemy to wrestle with, God himself will come in a
disguise into the field, and appear to be thine enemy. Thus when
Jacob was alone, a man wrestled with him until the breaking of
the day, and therefore set thy heart at rest if this be thy scruple:
Thy soul may rather take comfort in this, that thou art a wrest-
ler; this struggling withia thee, if upon th^ right grouud; and to _

1 6 i]x%

13^ For we iMesih*

the right en^, doth evidence there are two natures within thee,
two coatrary natures, the one from eaa«th, earthly ; and the othcc
from heaven, heavenly ; yea, lor thy further comfort, know,.
though thy corrupt nature be the elder, yet it shall serve the
younger.

Use 4. O how should this make thee (Christian) long to be
gone home, where there is none of all this stir and scuffle ! 'Tia
strange, that every hour seems not a day, and every day a year,
tall death sounds that joyful retreat, and calls thee off the field,
■where the bullets fly so thick, and thou- art fighting for thyself
with thy deadly enemies^ to come to court, where no swords, but
palms are seen in the saints hands; no drums, but harps; no
groans of bleeding soldiers and wounded consciences, but sweet
and ravishing music is heard of triumphing victors, caroling the
praises of God and the Lamb, through whom they have overcome.
Well, Christians, while you are below, comfort yourselves with
these things; therein a place of rest remains for the people of
God : You do not beat the air,, but wrestle for a heaven that is
yonder above these clouds ; you have your worst first, the best
will follow. You wrestle but to win a crown, and win to wear
it, yea wear, never to lose it, which once on^ none shall take it
ofl^, or put you to the hazard of a battle more. Here we over-
come to fight again ; the battle of one temptation may be over,
but the war remains. What peace can we have, so long as devils
can come abroad out of their holes,, or any thing of sinful nature
remains in ourselves unmortified ? which will even fight upon its
knees, and strike with one arm while the other is cutoff; but
when death comas, the last stroke is struck ; this good physician
will perfectly cure thee of thy spiritual blindness and lameness (as
the martyr, told his fellow at the stake, bloody Bonner would do
their bodies.) What is it. Christian, which takes away the joy
of thy life, but the wrestlings and combats which this bosom ene-
my puts thee to ? Is not this the Ptmnnah, that, vexing and dis-
turbing thy spirit, hath kept thee off many a sweet meal tljou
mi^itest have had in communion with God and his saints ; or if
thou hast come, hath made thee cover the altar c^' God with thy
tears and groans ? And will it not be a happy hand that cuts the
knot, and sets thee loose from thy deadness, hypocrisy, pride, and
what not, wherewith thou wert yoked ? It is life which is thy
loss, and death which is thy gain. Ee but willing to endure the
rending of the vail of thy flesh, and thou art where thou wouldst
be, out of the reach of sin, at rest in the bosom of thy God. And
why should a short evil of pain affright thee more, than the deli-
verance from a continual torment of sin's evil ravish thee ? Some
you know have chosen to be cut, rather than to be pained daily
ivith the stone, and yet, may be, their pain comes again ; and

canst

Not wittt Flesh and Bhod, lj7

canst thou not quietly think of dying to be delivibred froni the
torment of thy sins, never to return more; and yet that is not tli^
lialf that death doth for thee : Peace is sweet after war, ease af-
ter pain : but what tongue can express what joy, what glory must
hll the creature at the first sight of Cod, and that blessed com-
pany ? None but one that dwells there can tell. Did we know
more of diat blissful state, we ministers would find it as hard a
work to persuade Christians to be willing to live here so long, as
now it is to persuade them to be willing to die so soon.

CHAP. IL

Wherein is shewed what is meant hif Flesh and Blood ; how the '
Christian doth not, and how he doth wrestle agadnst the same.

SECT, L— 'M OW follows the description of the saints enemies,
^ with whom he is to wrestle.
First, Described negatively. Not withjiesh and blood*
Secondly, Positively, But against pn'ncipalties and powers^ S(Cp
First, For the negative part of the description ; we are not to
take it for a pure negation, as if we had no conflict with flesh and
blood, but wholly and solely to engage against satan ; but by way
of comparison, not only with flesh and blood, and in some sense
not chiefly. It is usual in scripture such manner of phrases,
Luke xiv. 12. Call not thi/ friends to diriner, but the poor ; that
is, not those only, so as to neglect the poor. Now what is meant
here by flesh and blood ? There is a double interpretation of the
words.

Fii*st, By flesh and blood may be meant our bosom corruptions ;
that sin which is in our corrupt nature so oft called flesh in the
scripture ; The fiesh lusteth against the spirit^ and sometimes
flesh aud blood, as Matt. xvi. 17. Flesh and blood hath not re^
veaied this ; that is, this confession thou hast made comes from
above : thy fleshly corrupt mind could never have found out this
supernatural truth, thy sinful will would never have embraced it.
So, 1 Cor. XV. 20. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God ; that is, sinful mortal flesh, as it is expounded in the
words following. So, Gal. i. 11. 1 consulted not withjiesh and
blood ; that is, carnal reason. Now this bosom enemy may be
called flesh, partly from its derivation, and partly from its opera-
tion : from its derivation, because it is derived and propagated to
us by natural generation ; thus Adam is said to beg-et a son in his
own likeness^ sinful as he was, as well as mortal aud miserable ;
yea, the holiest saint on earth, having flesh in him, derives this

^4 corrupt

158 N^ot with Flesh and Blood.

corrupt and sinful nature to his child, as the circumcised Jew be-,
gat an uncircumcised child ; and the wheat cleansed and fanned
(being sown) comes up with a husk^ John iii. 6. That which is
born ofthejiesh isjlesh.

Secondly, It is called flesh, from the operations of this corrupt
nature, which are fleshly and carnal. The reasonings of the cor-
rupt mind are fleshly, therefore called the carnal mind, incapable
indeed of the things of God, which it neither doth nor can per-
ceive ; as the sun doth ohsignare superiora dum revelat inferi-
ora^ hide the heavens which are above it from us, while it re-
veals things beneath ; so carnal reason leaves the creature in the
dark, concerning spiritual truths, when it is most able to conceive
and discourse of creature-excellencies, and carnal interests here
below. What a childish question, for so wise a man, did Nico-
demus put to Christ ? though Christ to help him did wrap his
speech in a carnal phrase. If fleshly reason cannot understand
spiritual truths when thus accommodated, and the notions of the
gospel translated into its own language, what skill is it like to
have of them, if put to read them in their original tongue ? I
mean, if this garment of carnal expression were taken off, and
spiritual truths in their naked hue presented to its view. The
motions of the natural will are carnal, and therefore, Rom. viii. 5.
They that are after thejiesh, are said to mind the things of the
Jlesh, All its desires, delights, cares, fears, are in and of carnal
things J it savours spiritual food no more than an angel fleshly.
Omnis vita gustu ducitur : What we cannot relish, we will
hardly make our daily food. Every creature hath its proper diet;
i\\Q lion eats not grassy' nor the horse flesh ; what is food to the
carnal heart, is poison to the gracious, and that which is pleasing
to the gracious, is distasteful to the carnal. Now, according to
this interpretation, the sense of the apostle is not, as if the Chris-
tian had no combat with his corrupt nature (for in another place
it is said, the spirit lusts against the flesh, and the flesh against the
spirit, and this enemy is called the sin that besets the Christian
round), but to aggravate his conflict with this enemy by the ac-
cess of a foreign power, satan, who strikes in with this domestic
enemy ; as if while a king is fighting with his own mutinous sub-
jects, some out-landish troops should join with them, now he may
be said not to fight with his subjects, but with a foreign power.
The Christian wrestles not with his naked corruptions, but with
satan in them ; were there no devil, yet we should have our hands
full in resisting the corruptions of our own hearts ; but the access
of this enemy makes the battle more terrible, because he heeds
them who is a captain so skilful and experienced. Our sin is the
engine, satan is the engineer, lust the bait, satan the angler :
^hen a soul i^ enticed by his own lust, he is said to be tempted,

Jam,

Kot mth Flesh and Blood. 1 39

Jam. i. 14. because both satan and our own lust concur to the
completing the sin.

Use, First, Let this make thee, Christian, ply the work, of
mortification close ; it is no policy to let thy lusts have arms, who
are sure to rise and declare against thee when thine enemy comes.
Achish's nobles did but wisely, in that they would not trust David
in their array when to fight against Israel, lest in the battle he
should be an adversary to them : And darest thou go to duty, or
engage in any action, where satan will appear against thee, and
not endeavour to make sure of thy pride, unbelief, &c. that they
join not with thine enemy?

Secondly, Are satan and thine own flesh against thee, not single
corruption, but edged with his policy, and backed by his power ?
See then what need thou hast of more help than thy own grace :
take heed of grappling with him in the strength of thy naked
grace ; here thou hast two to one against thee. Satan was too
hard for Adam, though he went so well appointed into the field,
because left to himself; much more easily will he foil thee ; cling
therefore about thy God for strength, get him with thee, and then,
though a worm, thou shalt be able to deal with this serpent.

SECT. II. — Secondly, Flesh and blood is interpreted as a/?e-
riphrasis of man. We wrestle not with flesh and blood, that is,
not with man, who is here described by that part which chiefly
distinguisheth him from the angelical nature : Touch me^ saith
Christ, and handle me, a spirit hath not flesh. Now, according
to this interpretation, observe :

First, How meanly the Spirit of God speaks of man.
Secondly, Where he lays the stress of the saints battle, not in
resisting flesh and blood, but principalities and powers ; where the
apostle excludes not our cement with man, for the war is against
the serpent and his seed. As wide as the world is, it cannot
peaceably hold the saints and wicked together ; but his intent is
to shew, what a complicated enemy (man's wrath and satan's in-
terwoven together) we have to deal with.

First, For the first. How meanly doth the Spirit of God speak
of man, calling him flesh and blood ? Man hath a heaven-born soul,
which makes him a-kin to angels, yea, to the God of them who is
the Father of Spirits ; but that is passed by in silence, as if God
would not own that which is tainted with sin, and not the crea-
ture God at first made it ; or because the soul, though of such
noble extraction, yet being so immersed in sensuality, deserves
no other name than flesh, which part of man levels him with the
beast, and is here intended to express the weakness and frailty of,
man's nature. It is the phrase which the Holy Ghost expresseth
the weakness and impoteucy of a creature by, Isa. xxxi. 3. They
(ue meUy and their /torses arc fleshy that is, weak ; as on the:

contrary^

140^ Not ivM Flesh and Blood.

contrary, when he would set out the power and strength of a
thing, he opposeth it to flesh, 2 Cor. x. 3. Our weapons are tiot
carnal, but mighty ; and so in the text, not flesh and blood, but
powers : as if he should say. Had you no other to fear but a weak
sorry man, it were not worth the providing arms or ammunition ;
but you have enemies that neither are flesh, nor are resisted with
flesh ; so that here we see what a weak creature man is, not only
weaker than angels, as they are spirits, and he flesh, but in some
sense beneath the beasts, as the flesh of man is frailer than the
flesh of beasts ; therefore the Spirit of God compares man to the
grass which soon withers^ Isa. xl. 6. and his goodlmess to the
Jlower of the field. Yea, he is called vanitj^, Psal. Ixii. 9. Men
of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie^ both
alike vain ; only the rich and great man, his vanity is covered
with honour, wealth, &c. which are here called a lie, because
they are not what they seem, and so worse than plain vanity,
which is known to be so, and deceives not.

Use, First, lis man but frail flesh ? Let this humble thee, O
man, in all thy excellency ; flesh is but one remove from filth and
corruption ; thy soul is the salt that keeps thee sweet, or else
thou wouldst stink above ground. Is it thy beauty thou pridest
in ? Flesh is grass, but beauty is the vanitj'^ of this vanity. This
goodliness is like the flower, which lasts not so long as the grass,
appears in its month, and is gone ; yea, like the beauty of the
flower, which fades while the flower stands. How soon will time's
plough make furrows in thy face ; yea, one fit of an ague so
change thy countenance, as shall make thy doting lovers afraid
to look on thee ? Is it strength? Alas, it is an arm of flesh, which
withers often in the stretching forth ; 'ere long thy blood which
is now warm, will freeze in thy veins ; thy spring crowned with
May buds, will tread on December's heel j thy marrow dry in
thy bones, thy sinews shrink, thy legs bow under the weight of
thy body, thy eye-strings crack, thy tongue not able to cry for
help ; 5'ea, thy heart with thy flesh shall fail ; and now thou who
art such a giant, take a turn if thou canst in thy chamber, yea,
i-aise thv head from the pillow if thou ait able, or call back thy
breath, which is making haste to be gone out of thy nostrils, never
to return more ; and darest thou glory. in that which so soon may
be prosti-ate ?

Is it wisdom ? The same grave that covers thy body shall bury
all that (the wisdom of thy flesh 1 mean) ; all thy thoughts shall
perish, and thy goodly plots come to nothing. Indeed if a Chris-
tian, thy thoughts as such shall ascend with thee, not one holy
breathing of thy soul lost. Is it thy blood and birth ? Whoever
thou art, thou art base born till born again ; the same blood runs
in thy veins with the beggar, ia the street, Acts xvii. 26. All na-
tions

"Nj^ mM Flesh aHid' Blood. 141

tlons there \v€ find made of the same blood : in two things all are
alike, we come in and go out of the world alike ; as one is not
made of finer earth, so not resolved into purer dust.

Use 2. Secondly, Is man flesh ? Trust not in man ; cursed h&
he that nmkes^flesh his arm : not in the mighty man ; robes may
hide and garnish, they cannot change flesh, Psal. cxlvi. Put not
yowr trust in princes ; alas, they cannot keep their crowns oil'
their own heads, their heads on their own shoulders, and lookest
thou for that which they cannot give themselves ? Not in wise
men, whose designs recoil oft upon themselves, that they cannot
perform their enterprise. Artip/wra ccepit tnstitvi currenle rotoi
cnr ttrceus emt. Man's carnal wisdom intends one thing, but
God turns the wheel, and brings forth another. Trust not in holy
meR; they have fieshi, and so their judgment not infallible, yea,
their way sometimes doubtful. His mistake may lead thee aside ;
and thougli he returns, tlwu mayest go on and perish. I'rust not
in any man, in all me», no not in thyself, thou ait flesh. He is
a fool (saith the wise man) th<U trusts his heart. Not in the
best thou art or doest, the garment of thy righteousness is spotted
with the flesh ; all is counted by Saint Paul, confidence in tha
fleshy besides our rejoicing in Christ, Phil. iii. 3,

Use 3. Thiixlly, Fear no man, he is but flesh. This was Da-
vid*s resolve, Psal. Ivi. 4. I will not fear uhaijlesh can do unto
me. Thou needest not, thou oughtest not to fear. TJiou needest
not. What not such a great man, nor such a number of men,
who have the keys of all the prisons at their girdle, who can kill
or save alive ? No, not these, only look they be thy enemies for
righteousness sake. Take heed thou makest not the least child
thine enemy, by oflTering v\ rong to him : God will right the wicked
even upon the saint. If he offends, he shall find no shelter under
God*s wing for his sin.. This made Jerome complain, that the
Christian's sin made the arms of those barbarous nations which
invaded Christendom victorious : N^ostris peccatis fortes sunt
harbari. But if man's wrath find thee in God's way, and his
fury take fire at thy holiness, thou needest not fear though thy
life be the prey he haunts for. Flesh can only wound flesh, he
may kill thee, but not hurt thee. Why shouldst thou fear to be
stript of that which thou bast resigned already to Christ ? 'Tis
the first lesson thou learnest, if a Christian, to deny thyself, take
up thy cross, and follow thy master, so that the enemy comes too
Jate ; thou hast no life to lose, because thou hast given it already
to Christ ; nor can man take away that without God's leave j all
thou hast is insured ; and though God hath not pron.ised thee
immunity from suffering in this kind, yet he hath undertaken to
bear the loss, yea, to pay thee an hundred fold, and thou shalt not
stay for it till another world. Again, thou oughtest not to fear

flesh.

142 ^0^ with Flesh and Blood.

flcsli. Our Saviour, Matth. x. thrice in the coinpags of six ver-
ses, commands us not to fear man ; if thy heart quakes at him,
how wilt thou behave thyself in the list against satan, whose little
linger is heavier than man's loins ? The Romans had armaproe-
lusoria^ weapons rebated or cudgels, which they were tried at be-
fore they came to the sharp. If thou canst not bear a bruise in
thy flesh from man's cudgels and blunt weapon, what wilt thou do
when thou shalt have satan's sword in thy side ? God counts him-
self reproached when his children fear a sorry man ; therefore we
are bid sanctify the Lord, and not to fear their fear. Now if thou
wouldst not fear man who is but flesh, labour,

First, To mortify thy own flesh ; flesh only fears flesh : when
the soul degenerates mto carnal desires and delights, no wonder
he falls into carnal fears. Have a care. Christian, thou bringest
not thyself into bandage : perhaps thy heart feeds on the applause
of man : this will make thee afraid to be evil spoken of, as those
who shuffled with Christ, John xii. 42. owning him in private,
when they durst not confess him openly, for they loved the praise
c(f men. David saith. The mouth of the wicked ts an open se^
pulchre; and in this grave hath many a saint's name been buried.
But if this fleshly desire were mortified, thou wouldst not pass to
be judged by man, und so of all carnal affections. Some meat you
observe is aguish ; if thou settest thy heart on any thing that is
carnal, wife, child, estate, &c. these will incline thee to a base
fear of man, who may be God's messenger to afflict thee in these.

Secondly, Set faith against flesh. Faith fixeth the heart, and
a fixed heart is not readily afraitl. Physicians tell us, we are ne-
ver so subject to receive infection as when the spirits are low, and
therefore the antidotes they give are all cordials. When the
spirit is low through unbelief, every threatening from man makes
fiad impression. liCt thy faith but take a deep draught of the
promises, and thy courage will rise.

Fourthly, Comfort thyself, Christiau, with this, that as thou art
flesh, so thy heavenly Father knows it, and considers thee for it.

First, In point of affliction, Psal. ciii. 14. He knoweth our
fratne^ he remembereth that we are but dust. Not like some
unskilled empiric, who hath but one receipt for all, strong or
weak, young or old, but as a wise physician he considers his pa-
tient, and then writes his bill : Men and devils are but God's apo-
thecaries, they make not our physic, but give what God prescribes.
Balaam loved Balak's fee well enough, but could not go an hair's
breadth beyond God's commission. Indeed God is not so choice
with the wicked. Isa. xxvii. 7. Hath he not smitten him as he
smote those that smote him ^ In a saint's cup the poison of the
aflliction is corrected ; not so in the wicked's j and therefore what
is medicine to the joae, is luiii tQ the other,

gecondlyj '

Koi with Flesh and Blood, ' ' W?*

Secondly, In duty; he knows you are but flesir, and tliercfor«
pities and accepts thy weak service, yea, he makes apologies for
thee : IlIijC spirit is willing^ saith Christ, but the flesh is weak.

Thirdly, In temptations he considers thou art flesh, and pro-
portions the temptation to so weak a nature : such a temptation
as is common to man, a moderate temptation (as in the margin)
iitted for so frail a creature. Whenever the Christian begins to
faint under the weight of it, God makes as much haste to his suc-
cour, as a tender mother would to her swooning child ; therefore
he is said to be nigh to revive such, lest their spirits shonld fail.

SECT. III. — The second thing follows : the conjuncture of
the saint's enemies : we have not to do with naked man, but with
man led on by satan ; not with flesh and blood, but principalities
and powers acting in them. There are two sorts of men the
Christian wrestles with, good men and bad ; satan strikes in with
both.

First, The Christian wrestles with good men. Many a sharp
conflict there hath been between saint and saint, scufl[ling in the
dark, through misunderstanding of the truth, and each other :
Abraham and Lot, at strife. Aaron and Miriam jostled with
Moses for the wall, till God interposed and ended the quarrel by
his immediate stroke on Miriam. The apostles, even in the pre-
sence of their Master, were at high words, contesting who should
be greatest. Now in these civil wars among saints, satan is the
great kindle-coal, though little seen, because like Ahab he fights
in a disguise, playing first on one side, and then on the other, ag-
gravating every petty injury, and thereupon provoking to wrath
and revenge ; therefore the apostle dehorting from anger, useth
this argument. Give no place to the devil ; as if he had said.
Fall not out among yourselves, except you long for the devil's
company, who is the true soldier of fortune (as the common
phrase is), living by his sword, and therefore hastes thither where
there is any hopes of war. Gregory compares the saints in their
sad diflferences to two cocks, which satan the master of the pit
sets on fighting, in ho[)e, when killed, to sup upon them at night.
Solomon saith, Pro v. xviii. 6. T/ze mouth of the contentious man
calls for strokes. Indeed we by our mutuad strifes give the devil
a staff to beat us with ; he cannot well work without fire, and
therefore blows up these coals of contention, which he useth as
his forge, to heat our spirits into wrath, and then we are malle-
able, easily hammered as he pleaseth. Contention puts the soul
into disorder, and inter anna silent leges. The law of grace
acts not freely, when the spirit is in a commotion ; meek Moses
provoked speaks unadvisedK'. Methiuks this (if nothing else
wall) should sound a retreat to our unhappy diflTerences, that this
Joab hath a hand in them ; he sets this evil spirit between bre-
thren,

!Im« Kot wUh Flesh and Blood.

threii, and what folly is it to bite aiid devour oiie anotlier, to
make hell sport ? We are prone to mistake our heat for zeal,
whereas commonlj'^ in strifes between saints, it is a fire-ship sent
in by satan to break their unity and order ; wherein while they
stand, they are an armada invincible ; and satan knows he hath
no other way but this to shatter them ; when the Christian's lan-
guage which should be one, begins to be confounded, they are then
near scattering ; 'tis time for God to part his children, when they
cannot live in peace together.

Secondly, The Christian wi-estles with wicked men. Becatfse
^ou are not of the world, saith Christ, the world hates you. The
saint's nature and life are antipodes to the world ; fire and water,
heaven and hell, may as soon be reconciled as they with it. The
heretic is his enemy for truth's sake, the prophane for holiness ;
to both the Christian is an abomination, as the Israelite to the
Egyptian ; hence come wars ; the fire of persecution never goes
out in the hearts of the wicked, wlio say va their hearts as they
once with their lips, Christiani ad leones. Now in aH the saints
wars with the wicked, satan is commander in chief; 'tis their fa-
ther's works they do, his lusts they fulfil. The Sabeans plun-
dered Job, but went on satan's errand. The heretic broacheth
corrupt doctrine, perverts the faith of many, but in that he is the
minister of satan, 2 Cor. xi. 15. They have their call, their wiles
and wages from him. Persecutors, their work ascribed to hell ;
Is it a persecution of the tongue ? 'Tis hell sets on fire : Is it of
the hand ? Still they are but the devil's instruments, Rev. ii. 10.
lyie devil shall cast some of you into prison.

Use 1. First, Do you see any driving furfously against the
truths or servants af Christ ? O pity them as the most miserable
wretches in the world, fear not their power, admire not their
parts ; they are men possessed of and acted by the devil, they are
his drudge>s and slaughter-slaves, as a martyr called tliem. Au-
gustine, in his epistle to Lycinius, one of excellent parts, but
wicked, who once was his scholar, speaks thus pathetically to
him : O how I could weep and mourn over thee, to see such a
sparkling wit prostituted to the devil's service I If thou hadst
found a golden chalice, thou wouldst have given it to the church ;
but God hath given thee a golden head, parts and wit, and in this
propinas teipsuni diabolo^ thou drinkest th5'self to the devil.
When you see men of power ©r parts using them against God that
gave them, weep over them ; better they had lived and died, the
one slaves, and the other fools, than do the devil such service with
them.

Use 2, Secondly, O ye saints, when reproached and perse-
cuted, look further than man, spend not your wrath upon him ;
alas I they are but instruments in the devil's hand: save your

displeasure

Against Principalities, 145

displeasure for satan, who is thy ciilef enemy : these may be wwi
to Christ's side, aud so become thy friends at last. Now and then
we see some ruiiuiDg away from the devil's colours, and wasliing
the wound with their tears, which they have made by their, cru-
elty. 'Tis a notable passage in Anselm, who compares the here-
tic and persecutor to the horse, and the devil to the rider. Now,
saith he, in battle, when the enemy comes riding up, the valiant
soldier, he is angry not with the horse, but horsemen ; he lalioui^
>to kill die man, thiU he may possess the horse for his use. Thus
Vie do with the wicked ; we are not to bend oar wrftth against
them, but satan that rides them, and spurs them ou, labouring by
prayer for them as Christ did on the cross, to dismount the devil,
that so these miserable souls hackneyed by him ma)- be delivered
from him. 'Tis moi-e honour to take one soul alive out of the
devil's clutches, than to leave many slain upon the field. Eras-
mus saith of Augustine, that he begged the lives of those here-
tics at the hands of the emperor's officers, who had been bloody
persecutors of the orthodox : Cupiebat^ saith he, amictis mt^
dicus superesse^ quos arte sua sanaret : Like a kind ph} sician
he desired their life, that if possible he might work a cure on
them, and make them sound in the faith.

%^»»»»i>»'*%^v«/w»w%>v«/vw%w

CHAP. II.

W/ierein is shewn what a Principality Satan hatk^ how he came
to he such a Ptnfice, and how we inay know whether we be un-
der him as our Prince^ or not*

VERSE 12. But against Principalities and Powers, S<;c,

SECT. I. — npHE apostle having shewn what the saints enemies
•^ are not, Jlesh and bloody frail men, who cannot
come but they are seen ; who may be resisted with man's power,
or escape by flight : now he describes them positively, against
principalities and poivers^ S(^c. Some think the apostle, by these
diverse names and titles, intends to set forth the distinct orders,
whereby the devils are subordinate one to another ; so they make
the devil, v. 11. to be the head or monarch, and these, v. 12.
so many interior orders, as among men there are princes, dukes,
earls, &.c. under an emperor. That there is an order among the
devils cannot be denied. The scripture speaks of a. prince of
devils^ Matth. ix. and of the detn'l and his angels^ who with him
fell from their first station ; called his angels, as it is probably
conceived, becaiige one above the rest (as the head of the faction)

drew

146 Agatmt Principdlittes.

^rew with him multitudes of others into his party, who wkh him
sinued and fell. But that thei*e should be so many distinct orders
among them, as there are several branches in this description, is
iiot probable ; too weak a notion to be the foundation of a pulpit
discourse, therefore we shall take them as meant of the devil col-
lectively. We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but devils, who
arc principalities, powers, &c. and not distributively, to make
principalities one rank, powers another ; for some of these
branches cannot be meant of distinct orders, but promiscuously of
all, as spiritual wickedness ; it being not proper to one to be
spirits or wicked, but common to all.

First, Then, the devil or whole pack of them are here describ-
ed by their government in this world, Principalities.

Secondly, By their strength and puissance, called Powers.

Thirdly, By their nature in their substance and degeneracy,
Spiritual loickedness.

Fourthly, In their kingdom or proper territories, Pulers of
the darkness of this world.

Fifthly, By the ground of the war, In heavenly places^ or
about heavenly things.

First, Of the first. Principalities ; the abstract for the con-
crete, that is, such as have a principality ; so Titus iii. 1. We
are bid to be subject to principalities and powers, that is, princes
and rulers, so the vulgar reads it. We wrestle against princes j
which some will have to express the eminency of thieir nature a-
bove man's, that as the state and spirit of princes is more raised
than others, great men have great spirits, as Zeba and Zalmunnk
to Gideon, asking who they were they slew at Tabor : As thou
art^ say they, so were they, each one resembled the children of
a king^ that is, for majesty and presence beseeming a princely
race ; so they think the eminent nature of angels here to be in-
tended, who are so far above the highest prince, as he above the
basest peasant ; but because they are described by their nature In
the fourth branch, I shall subscribe to their judgmciit who take
this for the principality of government which the devil exerciseth
in this lower world ; and the note shall be,

Doct. That satan is a great prince ; Christ himself stiles him
the prince of the world, John xiv. Princes have their thrones
where they sit in state ; satan hath his. Rev. ii. 13. Thoic
dwellest where satan hath his throne ; and that such a one as no
earthly prince may compare : few kings are enthroned in the
hearts of their subjects ; they rule their bodies, and command
their purses, but how often in a day are they pulled out of their
thrones by the wishes of their discontented subjects ! but satan
hath the hearts of all his subjects. Princes have their homage
and peculiar honour done to them 5 satan is served upon the knee

of

Against Principaliiies. 14^

ftf his subjects, the wicked is said to worship the devil^ Rev. xiii.
4. No prince expects such worship as he ; no less than religi-
ous worship will serve him, % Chron. xi. 15. Jeroboam thei-e is
said to ordain priests for devils, and therefore he is called n6t
only the prince, but the God of this world, because he hath the
worship of a God given him. Princes, such as are absolute, have
a legislative power ; na}', their own will is their law, as at this
day in Turkey, where their laws are writ in no other tables than
in the proud sultan's breast ; thus satan gives law to the poor
sinner, who is bound, and must obey, though the law be writ with
his own blood, and the creature hath nothing but damnation for
fultilling the devil's lust j 'tis called a law of sin, Horn. viii. 2i
because it comes with authority ; princes have their ministers of
state, whom they employ for the safety and enlargement of their
territories : So satan his, 2 Cor. xi. 15. who propagate his cursed
designs; therefore we read g^ doctrines of devils. Princes have
their state secrets, which none know but a few favourites in whom
they conlide : thus the devil hath his mysteries of iniquity, and
depths of satan we read of, which all his subjects know not of,
Kev. ii. 24. These are imparted to a few favourites, such as
Ely mas, whom Paul c^Xh full of all subtil ty^ and child of t lib
devil ; such, whose consciences are so debauched, that they
scruple not the most horrid sins } these are his white boys : I have
read of a people in America, that love meat best when 'tis rotten
and stinks. The devil is of their diet ; the more corrupt and
rotten the creature is in sin, the better he plcaseth his tooth j
some are more the children of the devil than others. Christ had
his beloved disciple ; and satan those that lie in his very bosom,
and know what is in his heart. In a word, princes have their
vecfigaliuj their tribute, and custom ; so satan his. Indeed he
doth not so much as share with the sinner in all, but is owner of all
he hath ; so that the devil is the merchant, and the sinner but the
broker to trade for him, who at last puts all his gains into the
devil's ^urse ; time, strength, yea, conscience and all are spent to
keep him on his throne.

SECT. II.— .Qw<;6/. But how comes satan to his principal
I it 1^9

yin.^. Not lawfully, though he can shew a fair claim. As,
First, He obtained it by conquest ; as he won his crown, so
he wears it by power and policy. But conquest is a cracked
title. A thief is not the honester, because able to force the tia-
vcller to deliver his pnrse ; and a thief on the throne is no better
than a private one on the road, or pirate in a pinnace, as he
boldly told Alexander. Neither doth that prove good with pro-
cess of time, which was evil at first : Satan indeed hath kept
possebHlon long, but a thief will be so as long as he keeps his

K stolen

148 Against Prmctpalities,

stolen goods ; he stole the heart of Adam jfrora God at first, and
doth no better to this day. Christ's conquest is good, because
the ground of the war is righteous, to recover what was his own 5
but satan cannot say of the meanest creature, ^Tis my own.

Secondly, Satan may lay claim to his principality by election ;
'tis true, he came by a wile, but now he is a prince elect, by the
unanimous choice of corrupt nature ; ye are of your father the
devil, saith Christ, and his lusts ye will do, J3ut this also hath
a flaw ill it : for man, by law of creation, is God's subject, and
cannot give away God's right ; by sin he loseth his right in God
as a protector, but God loseth not his right as a sovereign. Sin
disabled man to keep God's law, but it doth not enfranchise or
discharge hira, that he need not keep it.

Thirdly, Satan may claim a deed of gift from God himself, as
he was bold to do to Christ himself upon this ground, persuading
him to worship him as the prince of the world, Luke iv. 5, 6.
He shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the worlds sayings All
this will I give thee, for that is delivered unto we, a?id to whom-
soever I will, I give it. Where there was a truth, though he
spake more than the truth (as he cannot speak truth, but to gain
credit to some lie at the end of it.) God indeed hath delivered, in
a sense, this world to him, but not in his sense, to do what he will
with it, nor by any approbatory act given him a patent to vouch
him his viceroy ; not satan by the grace of God, but by the jper-
mission of God, prince of the world.

Quest, But why doth God permit this apostate creature to
exercise such a principality over the world ?

Ans, First, As a righteous act of vengeance on man, for re-
volting from the sweet government of his rightful Lord and-
Maker ; 'tis the way that God punisheth rebellion : Because ye
would not serve me with gladness^ in the abundance of all things^
therefore ye shall serve your enemies in hunger^ S^c, Satan is
is a king given in God's wrath. Ham's curse is man's punish-
ment, a servant of servants. Tlie devil is God's slave, man the
devil's. Sin hath set the devil on the creature's back, and now
he hurries him without mercy (as he did the swine), till he be
choked with flame, if mercy interpose not.

Secondly, God permits this his principality, in order to the
glorifying of his name in the recovery of his elect from the power
of this great potentate. What a glorious name will God have
when he hath linished this war, wherein at first he found all pos-
sessed by this enemy, and not a man of all the sons of Adam to
offer himself as a volunteer In this service, till made willing by the
day of his power ?~ This, tliis will gain God a name above every
name, not only of creatures, but of those by which himself was.
known to his crc^ure. The workmanship of heaven and earth

give

Against Prmcipalities* 149

give hira the name of Creator ; providence, of Preserver ; but
this, of Saviour : wherein he doth both the former, preserve his
creature, which else had been lost, and create a new creature ; I
mean the babe of grace, which, through God, shall be able to
beat the devil out of the Held, who was able to drive Adam,
though created in his full stature, out of paradise ; and may not
all the other works of God empty themselves as rivers into the
sea, losing their names, or jather swelling into one of redemption ?
Had not satan taken God's elect prisoners, they would not have
gone to heaven with such acclamations of triuniph. There are
three expressions of gi cat joy in scripture, the joy of a woman
alter her travail, the joy of harvest, and the joy of him that di-
videth the spoil ; the exultation of all these is wrought upon a
sad ground ; many a pain and tear it costs the travailing woman,
many a fear the husbandman, perils and wounds the soldier, be-
fore they come at their joy, but at last are paid for all, the re-
membrance of their past sorrows feeding their present joys. Had
Christ come and entered into aflinity with our nature, and re-
turned peaceabl}'^ to heaven with his spouse, finding no resistance :
though this would have been admirable love, and that would have
aftorded true joy of marriage, yet this way of carrying his saints
to heaven will heighten the joy, as it adds to the nuptial song the
triumph of a conqueror, who hath rescued his bride out of the
hands of satan, as he was leading her to the chambers of hell.

SECT. 111. — Use 1. Is satan such a prince ? Try whose sub*
ject thou art. His empire is large ; only a icw privileged, who
are translated into the kingcjom of God's dear son ; even in
Christ's own territories (visible church 1 mean), where his name
is professed, and the sceptre of his gospel held lorth, there satan
hath his subjects. As Christ had his saints in Kero's court ; so
the devil his servants in the outward court of his visible church.
Thou must therefore have sonietliing more to exempt thee from
this goveiimient, than living within the pale, and giving an out-
ward conformity to the ordinances of Christ ; satan will yield to
this, and be no loser : as a king lets his merchants trade to, yea,
live in a foreign kingdom, and while they are there learn the
language, and observe the customs of the place j this breaks not
their allegiance : nor all that thy loyalty to satan. When a star
tute was made in Queen Klizabeth's reign, that all should come
to the church, the papists sent to Kome to know the Pope's
pleasure ; he returned them this ans\Ver, (it is said,) Bid th^
Cat ho tics in Kngland give ine their hearts, and let the Queen
take the rest. His subject thou art whom thou ciownest in thy
heart, and not whom thou flattercst with thy lips.

lint to bring the trial to an issue, know, thou belongest to one
of these, and hut to one ; Christ and satan divide the whole

Jv 2 world •

150 Against PrincipaUties.

world; Christ will bear no equal, and satan no superior; and
therefore hold in with both thou canst not. Now if thou sayest
Christ is thy prince, answer to these interrogatories.

First, How came he into the throne ? Satan had once the quiet
possession of thy heart : thou wast by birth, as the rest of thy
neighbours, satan's vassal, yea, hast oft vouched him in the course
of thy life to be thy liege lord ; how then comes this great
change ? Satan sure would not of his own accord resign bis
crown and sceptre to Christ ; and as for thyself, thou wert nei-
ther willing to renounce, nor able to resist his power : this then
must only be the fruits of Christ's victorious arras, whom God
hath exalted to he a Prince and a Saviour^ Acts v. 31 . Speak
therefore, hath Christ come to thee as once Abraham to Lot, when
prisoner to Kederlaomer, rescuing thee out of satan's liands, as
he was leading thee in chains of lust into hell ? Didst thou ever
hear a voice from heaven in the ministry of the word calling out
to thee, as once to Saul, so as to lay thee at God's foot, and make
thee face about for heaven, to strike thee blind in thine own ap-"
prehension, who before had a good opinion of thy state, to tame
and weaken thee ; so as now thou art willing to be led by the
hand of a child after Christ ? Did ever Christ come to thee, as
the angel to Peter in prison, rousing thee up, and not only causing
the chains of darkness and stupidity to fall off thy mind and con-
science, but make thee obedient also, that the iron gate of thy
will hath opened to Christ before he left thee ? Then thou hast
something to say for thy freedom. But if in all this I be a bar-
banan, and the language I speak be strange, thou knowest no
such work to have passed upon thy spirit, then thou art yet in thy
old prison. Can there be a change of government in a nation by
a conqueror that invades it, and his subjects not hear of this ? one
king enthroned, and another crowned in thy soul, and thou hear
no scuffle all this while ? The regenerating spirit is compared to
the wind, John iii. 8. ; his first attempts on the soul may be
so secret, that the creature knows not whence they come, or
whence they tend ; but before he hath done, the sound will be
heard throughout the soul, so as it cannot but see a great change
in itself, and say, I that was blind, now I see ; I that was as hard
as ice, now relenting for sin ; now my heart gives, lean melt and
mourn for it. I that was well enough without a Christ, yea, did
wonder what others saw in him, to make such ado for him, now
have changed my note with the daughters of Jermaleju y and,
for what is your beloved ? (as I scornfully have asked) I have
learned to ask uhtre he is, that I might seek him with you. O
soul ! canst thou say 'tis thus with thee ? thou mayest know who
has been here, no less than Christ ; who, by his victorious spirit,

hath

Against Principalities* 151

hath translated thee from satan's power into his own sweet king-
dom.

Secondly, Whose law dost thou freely subject thyself unto ?
The laws of these princes are as contrary as their natures ; the
one a law of sin, Horn. viii. 2. the other a law of holiness, Rom.
vii. 12. : and therefore if sin hath not so far bereaved thee of thy
wits, as not to know sin from holiness, thou mayest (except re-
solved to cheat thy own soul) soon be resolved ; confess there-
fore, and give glory to God. To which of these laws doth thy
soul set its seal ? When satan sends out his proclamation, and
bids. Sinner, go, set thy foot upon such a command of God, ob-
serve what is thy behaviour ; doest thou yield thyself, as Paul
phraseth it, Rom. vi. 16. a metaphor from princes' servants, or
others, who are said to present themselves before their Lord, as
ready and at hand to do their pleasure ; by which the apostle ele-
gantly describes the forwardness of the sinner's heart to come to
satan's foot, if he knock or call : now doth thy soul go out thus
to meet thy lust (as Aaron his brother), glad to see its face in an
occasion ? Thou art not brought over to sin with much ado, but
thou likest the command ; Transgress at Gilgal (saith God),
this liketh you well, Hos. vi. 6. As a courtier, who doth not
only obey, but thank his prince that he will employ hira. Needest
thou be long in resolving whose thou art ? Did ever any question,
whether those were Jeroboam's subjects who willingly followed
his command ? Hos. v. 11. Alas for thee, thou art under the
power of satan, tied by a chain stronger than brass or iron : Thou
lovest thy lust. A saint may be for a time under a force, sold
under sin, as the apostle bemoans, and therefore glad when deli-
verance comes, but thou sellest thyself to work iniquity. If
Christ should come to take thee from thy lusts, thou wouldest
whine after them, as Micah after his gods.

Thirdly, To whom goest thou for protection ? As it belongs to
the prince to protect his subjects, so princes expect their sub-
jects should trust them with their safety ; the very bramble bids,
Judg. ix. 15. If in truth ye anoint me king, then put your trust
under my shadow. Now who hath tliy confidence ? Darest thou
trust God with thy soul, and the affairs of it in well-doing ? Good
subjects follow their calling, commit state matters to the wisdom
of their prince and his counsel ; when wronged, they appeal to
their prince in his laws for right ; and when they do offend their
prince, they submit to the penalty of the law ; and bear his dis-
pleasure patiently, till humbling themselves, they recover his fa-
vour, and do not in a discontent fall to open rebellion. Thus a
gracious soul follows his Christian calling, committing himself to
God as a faithful creator, to be ordered by his wise providence.
If he meets with violence from any, he scorns to beg aid of the

'k3 ' devil

152 Against Principalities,

devil to help lilm, or be his own judge to right himself: nOy he
acquiesceth iu the counsel and comfort the word of God gives
him. If himself offends, and so conies under the lash of God's
correcting hand, he doth not then take up rebellious arms against
God, and refuse to receive correction, but saith, Whi^ should a
living man complain? Aman for the punishment of hissing
whereas a naughty heart dares not venture his estate, life, credit,
or any thing he hath with God in well-doing ; he thinks he shall
be undone presently, if he sits still under the shadow of God's
promise for protection ; and therefore he rans from God as from
under an old house that would fall on his head, and lays the
weight of his confidence in wicked policy, making lies his refuge ;
like Israel, he trusts in perverseness. When God tells him, In
returning and rest he shall be saved^ in quietness and confidence
shall be his strength y he hath not faith to take God's word fov
his security in ways of obedience. And when God comes to af-
flict him for any disloyal carriage, instead of accepting the punish-
ment for his sin, and so to own him for his sovereign Lord, that
he may righteously punish the faults of his disobedient subjects,
his heart is filled with rage against God, and instead of waiting
quietly and humbly (like a good subject) till God upon his re-
pentance receives him into his favour, his wretched heart (^pre-
senting God as an enemy to him) will not suffer any such gra-
cious or amiable thought of God to dwell in his bosom, but bids
hi in look for no good at his h^nd. This evil is of the Lord;
why should I wait on the Lord any longer 9 Whereas a gracious
heart is most encouraged to wait from this very consideration
that drives the other way ; because 'tis the Lord afBicts, Micah
vii. 6,

4thly, Wliom dost thou sympathize with ? He is thy prince,
whose victories and losses thou layest to heart, whether in thy
own bosom, or abroad iu the world. Wliat saith thy soul, when
God hedgeth up thy way, and keeps thee from that sin which
satan hath been soliciting for ? If on Christ's side, thou wilt re-
joice when thou art delivered out of a temptation, though it be by
falling into an aflBiction ; as David said of Abigail, so wilt thou
here. Blessed be the ordinance, blessed be the providence, which
kept me from sinning against my God ; but if otherwise, ihou
wilt harbour a secret grudge against the word which stood in the
way, and be discontented thy design took not. A naughty heart
(like Amnon) pines until his lust hath vent. Again, what mu-
sic do the achievements of Christ in the world make in thy ear ?
When thou hearest the gospel thrives, the blind see, the lame walk,
the poor gospelized, doth thy spirit rejoice in that hour ? If a
saint, thou wilt, as God is thy father, rejoice thou hast more bre-
thren born ; as he is thy prince, that the multitude of his subjects

increase :

Against Principalities, 1 53

increase : so when thou seest the plots of Christ's enemies disco-
vered, powers defeated, canst thou go forth with the saints to
meet King Jesus, and ring him out of the field with praises ? Or
do thy bells ring backward, and such news make thee haste, like
Haman, mourning to thine house, thereto empty thy spirit, swoln
with rancour against his saints and truth ? Or if thy policy can
master thy passion so far, as to make fair weather in thy coun-
tenance, and suffer tliee to join with the people of God in their
acclamations of joy, yet then art thou a close mourner within, and
likest the work no better than Haman did his office, in holding
Mordecai's stirrup, who had rather have held the ladder : this
speaks thee a certain enemy to Christ, how handsomely soever
thou mayest carry it before men.

Secondly, Bless God, O ye saints, who upon the former trial
can say, you are translated into the kingdom of Christ, and so de-
livered from the tyranny of this usurper : there are few but have
some one gaudy day in a year, which they solemnize ; some keep
their birth-day, others their marriage ; some their manumission
from a cruel service, others their deliverance from some imminent
danger ; here is a mercy where all these meet. You may call it,
as Adam did his wife, Chavah, the mother of all the living; every
mercy riseth up and calls this blessed ; this is thy birth-day ; thou
weit before, but begannest to live when Christ began to live in
thee. The father of the prodigal dated his son's life from his re-
turn. T//?> my son icas dead and is alive. It is tliy marriage
day : I have married you to one husband^ even Christ Jesus,
fiaith Paul to the Corinthians. Perhaps thou hast enjoyed this
thy husband's sweet company many a day, and had a nunieroifs
offspring of joys and comforts by thy fellowship with him, the
thought of which cannot but endear him to thee, and make the
day of thy espousals delightful to thy memory : It is thy manu-
mission, then were the indentures cancelled, wherein thou wert
bound to sin and satan : when the Son made thee free, thou be-
camest free indeed : Thou canst not say thou was born free, for
thy father was a slave, nor that thou boughtest thy freedom with
a sum. By grace ye are saved. Heaven is settled on thee in the
promise, and thou not at charge so much as for the writing*s draw-
ing. All is done at Christ's cost, with whom God indented, and
to whom he gave the promise of eternal life before the world be-
gan, as a free estate to settle upon every believing soul in the
day they shall come to Christ, and receive him for their Prince
and Saviour; so that from the hour thou didst come under Christ's
shadow, all the fruit that grows on this tree of life is thine ; with
Christ, all that both ivorlds have, falls to thee ; all is yours, be-
cause you are Christ's. O Christian, look upon thy self now,
and bless thy God to see what a change there is made in thy

K 4 state,

I5i' Against Principalities,

state, since that black and dismal time, when thou wast a slave
to the prince of darkness ; how couldst thou like thy old scullion's
work again, or think of returning to thy house of bondage, now
thou knowest the privileges of Christ's kingdom ? Great princes,
who from baseness and beggary have ascended to kingdoms and
empires (to add to the joy of their present honour,) have delight-
ed to speak often of tlieir base birth, to go and see the mean cot-
tages where they were first entertained, and had their birth and
breeding, and the like. And 'tis not unuseful for the Christian
to look in at the grate, to see the smoky hole where once he lay,
to view the chains wherewith he was laden, and so to compare
Christ's court and the devil's piison ; the felicity of the one, and
the horror of the other together. But when we do our best to
affect our hearts with this mercy, by all the enhaucing aggi'ava-
tions we can find out, alas I how little a portion of it shall we
know here ? This is a nimium exvellms, which cannot be fully
seen, unless it be by a glorified eye ; how can it be fully known
by us, where it cannot be fully enjoyed ? Thou art translated in-
to the kingdom of Christ, but thou art a great way from his court.
That is kept in. heaven, and that the Christian knows, as we do
far countries which we never saw, only by map, or some rarities
that are sent us as a taste of what grows there in abundance.

Use 3. Thirdly, This (Christian) calls for thy loyalty and faith-
ful service to Christ, who hath saved thee from satan's bondage,
§ay, O ye saints, to Christ, as they to Gideon, Come thou and
rule over us, for thou hast delivered us from the hand, not of Mi*
dian, but of satan. Who so able to defend thee from his wrath,
as he who broke his pow^r ? Who like to rule thee so tenderly,
as he that could not brook another's tyranny over thee ? In a word,
who hath right to thee besides him, who ventured his life to re-
deem thee ? T/iat being delivered from all thine enemies, thou
mayest serve him without fear^ in holiness, all the days of thy
life. And were it no pity that Christ should take all this pains to
lift up thy head from satan's house of bondage, and give thee a
place among those in hia own house, who are admitted to minister
to him (which is the l^ighest honour the nature of men or angels is
capable of,) and that thou shouldest after all this be found to have
a hand in any treasonable practice against thy dear Saviour?
Surely Christ may think he hath deserved belter at thy hands, if
at none besides. Where shall a prince safely dwell, if not in the
midst of his own courtiers ? and those such who were all taken
from chains and prisons to be thus preferred, the more to oblige
them ill his service ? l^et devils and devilish men do their own
work, but let not thy hand (O Christian) be upon thy dear Savi-f
our. But this is too little, to bid thee not play the traitor. If
thou hast any loyal bipod running in thy veins, thy own heart will

smite

Against Principalities. 155

smite thee when thou rendest the least skill of liis holy law ; thou
canst as well carry burning coals in thy bosom, as hide any trea-
son there against thy dear Sovereign. No ; 'tis some noble cn-
terprize I should have thee think upon, how thou may est ad-
vance the name of Christ higher in thy heart, and world too, as
inuch as in thee lies. O how kindly did God take it, that David
(when peaceably set on his throne) was casting about, not that
he might entertain himself with those pleasures which usually cor-
rupt and debauch the court of princes in times of peace, but how
he might shew zeal for God, in building a house for his worship,
that had i-eared a throne for him, 2 Sam. vii. And is there no-
thing. Christian, thou canst think on, wherein thou mayest emi-
nently be instrumental for God in thy generation ? He is not ft
good subject that is always for what he can get from his prince,
but never thinks what service he may do for him ; nor he \ht
true Christian, whose thoughts dwell more on his own happiness,
than the honour of his God. If subjects might choose what life
stands best for their own enjoyment, all would desire to live at
court with their prince ; but because the prince's honour is more
to be valued than this, therefore noble spirits (to do their prince
service) can deny themselves the delicacies of a court, to jeopard
their lives in the field, and thank their prince too for the honour
of their employment. Blessed Paul, upon these terms, was wil-
ling to have his day of coronation in glory prorogued, and he to
stay as companion with his brethren in tribulation, here, for the
furtherance of the gospel. This indeed makes it operce prefittm
vivere, worth the while to live, that we have by it a fair opportu-
nity (if hearts to husband it) in which we may give a proof of
our real gratitude to our God for his redeeming love, in rescuing
us out of the power of the prince of darkness, and translating us
into the kingdom of his dear Son. And therefore. Christian, lose
no ^time, but what thou meanest to do for God, do it quickly. —
Art thou a magistrate ? Now it will be soon seen on whose side
thou art : If indeed thou hast renounced allegiance to satan, and
taken Christ for thy prince, declare thyself an enemy to all that
bear the name of satan, and march under his colours. Study well.
thy commission, and when thou understaudest the duty of thy
place, fall to work zealously for God. Thou hast thy Prince's
sword put into thy hand, be sure thou use it, and take heed how
thou usest it ; that when called to deliver it up, and thy account
also, it may not be found rusty in the sheath throngh sloth and
cowardice, besmeared with the blood of violence, nor bent and
gapt with partiality and injustice. Art thou a minister of the
gospel ? liiy employment is high, an ambassador, and that not
from some petty prince, but the great God to his rebellious sub-
jects ; a calling so honourable, that the Son of God disdained not

t©

156 ' Against Principalities*

to come in extraordinaiy from heaven to perform it, called there-
fore the messenger of the covenant ; yea, he had to this day staid
on earth in person about it, had he not been called to re«ide as
our ambassador and advocate in heaven with the Father : and
therefore in his bodily absence he hath intrusted thee and a few
more to carry on the treaty with sinners, which when on earth
himself began. And what can you do more acceptable to him,
than to be faithful in it, as a business on which he -hath set his
heart so much ? If ever you would see his sweet face with joy,
(you that are his ambassadors) attend to your work, and labour
to bring this treaty of peace to a blessed issue between God and
those you are sent to. And then if sinners will not come off, and
seal the articles of the gospel, you shall (as Abraham said to his
servant) be clear of j'our oath. Though Israel be not gathered,
yet you shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord. And let not
the private Christian say, he is a dry tree, and can do nothing
for Christ his prince, because he may not bear the magistrate's
fruit or minister's. Though thou hast not a commission to punish
the sins of others with the sword of justice, yet thou mayest shew
thy zeal in mortifying thy own witli the sword of the spirit, and
mourn for theirs also: though thou mayest not condemn them on
the bench, yet thou mayest, yea, oughtest, bj' the power of a holy
life, to convince and judge them ; such a judge was Lot to the
Sodomites. Though thou art not sent to preach and baptize, yet
thou mayest be wonderful helpful to them who are. 7 he Chris-
tian's prayers whet the magistrate's and minister's sword also.
O pray, Christian, and pray again, that Christ's territories may
be enlarged ; never go to hear the word, but pi*ay, Th/y kingdom
come. Loving princes take great content in the acclamations
and good wishes of their subjects as they pass by ; a Vivat Rex^
Long live the king, coming from a loyal breath, though poor, is
more worth than a subsidy from those who deny their hearts
while they part w^th their money. Thou servest a prince CChris-
tian) who knows what all his subjects think of him, and he counts
it his honour not to have a multitude feignedly submit to him, but
to have a people that love him, and cordially like his government,
who, if they were to choose their king, and make their own laws
they should live under ever}'^ day, would desire no other than him-
self, nor any other laws than what they have already from his
mouth. It was no doubt great content to David, that he had the
liearts of his people, so as whatever the king did pleased them all^
2 Sam. iii. 26. And surely God took it as well, that what he
did pleased David ; for indeed David was as content under the
rule and disposure of God, as the people were under his ; witness
the calmness of his spirit in the greatest affliction that ever befel
him, 2 Sam. xv. 26. Behold, here a?n I, let him do to me as

^eemeih

Against Powers. 157

scemeth good unto him. Loyal soul ! he bad rather live in exile
ivith the good-will of God, than have his throne, if God will not
say 'tis good for him.

'V>-%<%*^'V%*-V***/*»-*%^»'»'%*-»-V

CHAP. IV.

Of the great Power Satan hath., not only over the elementary
and sensitive Part of the World, but intellectual also — the
Souls of Men.

SECT. I '^I^HIS is the second branch of the description,

■ wherein satan is set forth by his might and
power. This gives weight to the former ; were he a prince, and
not able to raise a force that might dread the saints, the swelling
name of a prince were contemptible; but he hath power answei-
iible to his dignity, which in live particulars will appear.

jfirst, In his name ; Secondly, his nature ; Thirdly, his num-
ber ; Fourthly, his order and unity ; Lastly, the mighty works
that are attributed to him.

First, For the first, F^e has names of great power, called the
strong man, Luke xi. 21. so strong, that he keeps his house in
peace, in defiance of all the sons of Adam, none on earth being
able to cope with this giant : Christ must come from heaven to
destroy him and his works, or the field is lost. He is called the
roaring lion, which beast commands the whole forest ; if he roars,
all tremble ; yea, in such a manner, as Pliny relates, that he goes
amongst them, and they stand exauimated while he chooseth his
j)rey without resistance : such a lion is satan, who leads sinners
captive (ft his will, 2 Tim. iii. 26. He takes them alive, as the
word is, as the fowler the bird, which with a little scrap is en-
ticed into the net ; or as the conqueror his cowardly enemy, who
lias no heart to fight, but yields without contest. Such cowards
the devil finds sinners ; he no sooner appears in motion, but they
yield : there are but a few noble spirits, and those are the chil-
dren of the most high God, who dare valiantly oppose him, and
in striving against sin, resist to blood. He is called the great
red dragon, who with his tail, wicked men, his instruments,
sweeps down the third part of the stars of heaven : the prince of
the^poiver of the air, because a prince can muster his subjects, and
draw them into the field for his service, so the devil can raise the
posse cceli a'erii. In a word, he is called the god of this world,
2 Cor. iv. 4. because sinners give him a godlike worsnip, fear hin*
■fis the saints do God himself.

Secondly, The devil's nature shews "his power j 'tis angelical.

Bless

1 58 Against Powers.

Bless the Lor d^ ye his angels that excel in strength^ Psal. ciii. 20.
Strength is put for angels, Psal. Ixxviii. 25. The^ did eat angels*
food^ Heb. the food of the mighty. In two things the power of
angelical nature will appear j in its superiority, and in its spiri-
tuality.

First, Its superiority : angels are the top of the creation ; man
himself made a little lower than the angels. Now in the w orks of
creation, the superior hath a power over the inferior ; the beasts
over the grass and herb, man over the beasts, and angels overman.

Secondly, The spirituality of their nature. The weakness of
man is from his flesh : his soul, made for great enterprizes, but
weighed down with a lump of flesh, is forced to row with a
strength suitable to its weaker partner ; but now the devils being
angels have no such incumbrance, no fumes from a fleshly part to
cloud their understanding, which is clear and piercing ; no clog
at their heel to retard their motion, which for swiftness is set out
by the wind and flame of fire. Yea, being spiritual, they cannot
be resisted with carnal force, fire and sword hurt not them. The
angel which appeared to Manoah, went up in the fire that con-
sumed the sacrifice, though such hath been the dotage, and is at
this day, of superstitious ones, that they think to charm the devil
with their carnal exorcisms ; hence the Romish reliques, cross,
holy water ; yea, and among the Jews themselves in corrupter
times, who thought by their phylacteries, and circumcision, to
scare away the devil, which made some of them expound that.
Cant. iii. 8. of circumcision. Every man hath his sword on his
thigh^ because of fear in the night : By sword on the thigh, they
expound circumcision, which they will vainly have given as a
charm against evil spirits that affright them in the night. But
alas ! the devil cares for none of these, no, not for an ordinance
of God, when by fleshly confidence we make it a spell : he hath
been often bound with these fetters and chains (as is said of him
in the gospel), and the chains have been plucked asunder by him,
neither could any man thus tame him. He esteems, as Job saith
of the leviathan, iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood* It
must be a stronger than the strong man must bind him, and none
stronger but God the father of spirits. The devil lost indeed by
his fall much of his power, in relation to that holy and happy
state in which he was created, but not his natural abilities ; he
is an angel still, and hath angel's power.

Thirdly, The number of devils adds to their power. What
lighter than the sand ? yet number makes it weighty. What
creature less than lice ? yet what plague greater to the Egyptians?
How formidable then must devils be, who are both for nature so
mighty, and for number such a multitude? There are devils
enough to beleaegre the whole earth ; not a place under heaven

where

Against Powers » 1 59

where satan hath not his troops, not a person uithout some of
these cursed spirits haunting and watching him wherever he goes y
yea, for some special service he can send a legion to keep garri-
son in one single person, as, Mark v. and if so many can be spared
to attend one, to what a number would the muster-roll of satan's
whole army amount, if known ? And now tell me, if we are not
like to find our march difficult to heaven (if ever we mean to go
thither), that are to pass through the very quarters of this multi-
tude, who are scattered over the face of all the earth ? When
armies are disbanded, and the roads full of debauched soldiers,
wandering up and down, it's dangerous travelling : we hear then
of murders and robberies from all quarters : These powers of hell
are that party of angels, who for their mutiny and disobedience
were casniered heaven, and thiust out of that glorious host, and
ever since they have straggled here below, endeavouring to do
mischief to the children of men, especially those travelling in hea-
ven's road.

Fourthly, Their unity and order makes their number formi-
dable. We cannot say there is love among them ; that heavenly
fire cannot live in the devil's bosom ; yet their way is unity and
order as to this, — they are all agreed in their designs against God
and man : so their unity and consent is knit together by the liga-
ments, not of love, but of hatred and policy ; hatred against God
and his children, which they are filled with ; and policy, which
tells them, that if they agree not in their design, their kingdom
cannot stand. And how true they are to this wicked brother-
hood, our Saviour gives a fair testimonj^, when he saith, saian
fights not against satmi. Did you ever hear of any mutiny in
the devil's army ? or that any of those apostate angels did freely
yield up one soul to Christ ? They are many, and yet but one
spirit of wickedness among them all. My tmme, said the devils,
(not our name) is legion. 'I'he devil is called the Leviathan^
(Isa. xxvii. 1. The Lord with his strong sword shall punish ie-
viathan^) from their cleaving together, being of close compact,
or joined together, a phrase used for the whale, Job iv. whose
strength lies in his scales, which are so knit, that he is, as it
were, covered with armour. Thus these cursed spirits do accord
in their machinations, and labour to bring their instruments into
the same league with them, not contented with their bare obe-
dience, but where they can obtain it, do require an express oath
ot their servants, to be true to them, as in witches.

Fifthly, The mighty works that are attributed to those evil
spiiits in scripture declare their power ; and these either respect
the elementary, sensible, or intellectual part of the world. The
elementary, what dreadful effects this prince of the power of the
air is able to produce on that, see in the word j he cannot indee<l

makf.

160 ' Against Powers*

make the least breath of air, drop of water, or spark of lire, but
he can, if let loose, (as the Rev. Mr. Caryl saith, on Job i.) go to^
God^s store-house, and make use of these in such a sort, as no
man can stand before him ; he can hurl the sea into such a com-
motion, that the depths shall boil like a pot, and disturb the air
into storms and tempests, as if heaven and earth would meet.
Job's children were buried in the ruins of their house by a puff of
his mouth ; yea, he can go to God's magazine, (as the former
author saith), and let off the great ordnance of heaven, causing
such dreadful thunder and lightning, as shall not only affright, but
do real execution, and that in a more dreadful way than in the or-
dinary course of nature : if roan's art can so sublimate nature, as
we see in the invention of powder, that hath such a strange force,
much more able is he to di-aw forth its power. Again, over the
sensitive world his power is great ; not only the beasts, as in the
herd of swine, hurried by him into the deep ; but over the bodies
of men also, as in Job, whose sore boils were not the breakings
out of a distempered nature, but the print of satan's fangs on his
flesh, doing that suddenly, which in nature would have require<l
more time to gather and ripen ; and the demoniacs in the gos-
pel grievously vexed and tormented by him. But this the devil
counts small game ; his great spite is at the souls of men, which
I call the intellectual world; his cruelty to the body is for the
soul's sake. As .Christ's pity to the bodies of men (when on
earth), healing their diseases, was in a subserviency to the good
of their souls, bribing them with those mercies suitable to their
carnal desires, that they might more willingly receive mercies for
their souls, from that hand which was so kind to their bodies ; as
w'e give children something tliat pleaseth them, to persuade them
to do something that pleaseth them not, as go to school, learn
their book : so the devil who is cruel, as Christ rs meek, and
ivisheth good neither to body nor soul, yet shews his cruelty to
the bod}^, but on a design against the soul,, knowing well that the
soul is soon discomposed by the perturbation of the other ; the
soul cannot but lightly hear (and so have its peace and rest bro-
ken by the groans and complaints of the body), under whose very
roof it dwells ; and then it is not strange, if as for wivnt of sleep
the tongue talk idly, so the soul should break out into some sinful
carriage, which is the bottom of the devil's plot on a saint. And
as for other poor silly souls, he gains little less than a godlike fear
and dread of them, by that power he puts forth (through di\;;jne
permission) in smiting their goods, beasts, and bodies, as among
the Indians at this day. Yea, there are many among ourselves
plainly shew what a throne satan hath in their hearts upon this
' account, such who, as if there were not a God in Israel, go for
help and cure to his doctors, wizards 1 mean. And truly had

satan

Against Powers* 161

satan no otiier way to work his will on the souls of men, but by
this advantage he takes from the body, yet considering the dege-
neracy of man's estate, how low his soul is sunk beneath its pri-
mitive extraction, how the body, which was a lightsome house, is
now become a prison to it, that which was its servant is now be-
come its master; it is no wonder he is able to do so much. But
besides this, he hath as a spirit a nearer way of access to the
soul, and as a superior spirit, yet more, over man a lower crea-
ture. And above all, having got within the soul by man's fall, he
hath now I'ar more power than before ; so that where he meets
not resistance from God, he carries all before him •. as in the
wicked, whom he hath so at his devotion, that he is (in a sense)
said to do that in them, which God doth in the saints. God
works effectually in them, Gal. ii. 8. 1 Thes. ii. J 3. Satan
worketh effectually in the children of disobedience, Eiph. ii. 2.
energountos^ the same word with thoi former places ; he is in a
manner as efficacious with them, as the Holy Spirit with the other.
His delusions strong, 2 Thes. ii. 11. They returned not re wjecta.
The spirit enlightens, he blinds the minds of those that believe
not, 2 Cor. iv. 4. The spirit fills the saints, Eph. v. 8. Whi/
hath satan filled thy heart ? saith Peter to Ananias, Acts v. 3.
2^he spirit Jills with knowledge^ and the fruits of rightemisness ;
satan fills with envy and all unrighteousness. The Holy Spirit
fills with comfort ; satan the wicked with terrors : as in Saul
vexed by an evil spirit ; and Judas, into whom 'tis said he entered,
and when he had satisfied his lust upon him, (as Amnon on Ta-
mar), shuts the door of mercy upon him, ana makes him, that
was even now traitor to his master, hangman to himself. And
though saints be not the proper subjects of his power, yet they
are the chief objects of his wrath; his foot stands on the wicked's
back, but he wrestles with these, and when God steps aside, he
is far above their match ; he hath sent the strongest among them
home, trembling and crying to their God, with the blood running
about their consciences. He is mighty, both as a tempter to and
for sin, knowing the state of the Christian's affairs so well, and
able to throw his fire-balls so far into the inward senses (whether
they be of lust or horror), and to blow up these with suchi unwea-
ried solicitations, that if they at first meet not with some suitable
dispositions in the Christian, at which, as from loo.^e corns of pow-
'der, they may take fire (which is most ordinary), yet in time he
may bring over the creature by the length of the siege, and con-
tinued volleys of such motions, to listen to a parley with them, if
not yielding to them. Thus many times he even wearies out the
fioul with importunity.

SECT. II — Use I. First, Let this (Oman) make the plumes
of thy pride fall, whoever thou ai t that gloriest iu thy power ;

hadst

162 Agaiiist Powers*

liadst thou more than thou or aiij of the sons of Adam ever had,
yet what is all that to the power of these angels? Is it the strength
of thy body thou gloriest in ? Alas ! what is the strength of frail
flesh, to the force of their spiritual nature ? Thou art no more to
these than a child to a giant, a worm to a man ; who could rear
up the mountains, and hurl the world into confusion, if God would
suffer them. Is it the strength of thy parts above others ? Dost
thou not see what fools he makes of the wisest amongst men ?
winding them about as a sophister would do an idiot, make them
bejieve light is dark, bitter is sweet, and sweet bitter; were not
the strength of his parts admirable, could he make a rational
creature, as a man is, so absurdly throw away his scarlet, and
embrace dung : I mean, part with God and the glorious happiness
he hath in him, in hope to mend himself, by embracing sin ? Yet
this he did, when man had his best wits about him in innocencv.
Is it the power of place and dignity, got by warlike atchieve-
ments ? Grant thou wert able to subdue nations^ and give laws to
the whole world, yet even then, without grace from above, thou
wouldst be his slave. And he himself, for all this his power, is
a cursed spirit, the most miserable of all God's creatures, and the
more, because he hath so much power to do mischief; had the
devil lost all his angelical abilities, when he fell, he had gained by
his loss. Therefore tremble (O man) at any power thou bast^
except thou usest it for God. Art thou strong in body ? Who?
bath thy strength ? God, or thy lusts? Some are strong to drink^
strong to sin, T/^y hands shall thtrefote be stronger, Isa. xx\iii*
2<i. Hast thou power by thy place to do God and his church
service, but no heart to lay it out for them, but rather against
them ? thou and the devil shall be tried at the same bar ; it seems
thou meanest to go to hell for something, thou wilt carry thy full
lading thither. IVo greater plague can befall a man than power
without grace. Such great ones in the world, while here, make
a brave shew; like chief commanders and held officers at the
head of their regiments, the common soldiers are poor creatures to
them ; but when the army is beaten, and all taken prisoners, then
they fling off their scarf and feather, and would be glad to pass
for the meanest in tlie army. JIappy would devils be, princes
and great ones in the world be, if then they could appear in the
habit of some poor sneaks, to receive their sentence as such ; but
then their titles, and dignity, and riches, shall be read, not for
their honour, but for their shame and damnation.

Use 2, Secondly, It shews the folly of those that think it such
an easy matter to get to heaven. If the devil be so mighty, and
heaven's way so full of them, then sure it will cost hot water l>e-
kne we display our banners upon the walls of the new Jerusalem.
Yet it is plain, many think otherwise, by the provision they make

for

Against Powers. 163

for their march. If you should see a man walking forth without
a cloak, or with a very thin one, you will say, surely he fears no
foul weather ; or one riding a long journey alone, and without
arras, you will conclude he expects no thieves on the road. All
(iFyou ask them) will tell you they are on their way to heaven,
but how few care for the company of the saints, as if they needed
not their fellowship in their journey ? Most go naked, without so
much as any thing like armour, have not enough to gain the name
of professors at large ; others, it may be, will shew some vain
slight hopes on the mercy of God, without any scripture-bottom
for the same, and with these content themselves, which will, like
a rusty unsound pistol, fly in their own face, when they come to
use it : and is it any wrong to say these make nothing of getting
heaven ? Surely these men (many of whom thrive so well in the
world) never got their estates with so little care as they think to
get heaven. Ask them why they follow their trade so close ;
they will tell you, estates are not got by sleeping, families are not
provided for with the hands in the pocket, they meet with many
rooks and cheaters in their dealing, who, should they not look to
themselves, would soon undo them : and are there none that thou
needest fear will put a cheat on thy soul, and bereave thee of thy
crown of glory if they can ? Thou art blinder than the prophet's
servant, if thou seest not more devils encompasiiig thee than he
saw men about Samaria. Thy worldly trade they will not hin-
der, nay, may be, help thee to sinful tricks in that, to hinder thee
in this : but if once tnou resolvest to seek out for Christ and his
grace, they will oppose thee to thy face ; thej^ are under an oath,
as Paul's enemies were, to take away the life of thy soul if they
can ; desperate creatures themselves, who know their doom is ir-
recoverable, and sell their own lives they will as dear as they can.
Now what folly is it to betray thy soul into their hands, whea
Christ stands by to be thy convoy ! Out of him thou art a lost
creature, thou canst not defend thyself alone against satan, nor
with satan against God. Close with Christ, and thou art deliv-
ered from one of thy enemies, and him the most formidable, God
I mean ; yea, he is become thy friend, who will stick close to
thee in thy conflict with the other.

Uf^e 3. Thirdly, to the saints : Be not dismayed at this report
which the scripture makes of satan's power j let them fear him
who fear not God. What are these mountains of power and pride
before thee, O Christian, who servest a God that can make a
worm thresh a mountain ! the greatest hurt he can do thee, is by
nourishing this false fear of him in thy bosom. It is observed
(Bernard saith) of some beasts in the forest, Plenimque superant
leonetn ferientem^ quee non sustinet rngientem ; though they are
too hard for the lion in fight, yet tremble when he roars. Thus

L the

164 ^gainst Powers.

the Christian, when he comes to the pinch indeed, is able, through
Christ, to trample satan under his feet ; j'Ct before the conflict,
stands tremWing at the thought of him. Labour therefore to get
a right understanding of satan's power, and then this Hon will not

appear so fierce as you paint him in your melancholy fancy

Three considerations will relieve you, when at any time you are
beset with the fears of his power.

First, It is a derived power : he hath it not in himself, but by
patent from another, and that no other but God : All powers are
of Mm, whether in earth or in hell. This truth, subscribed in
taith, would first secure thee (Christian) that satan's power shall
never hurt thee. Would thy father give him a sword to mis-
chieve thee his child ? I have created the smith (saith God) that
bioveth the coals, I have created the waster to destroi/^ and
therefore assures them, that no weapon formed against them shall
prosper^ Isa. liv. iQ» &c. If God provide his enemies arms,
they shall (I warrant you) be such as will do them little service.
When Pilate thought to scare Christ with what he could do to-
,tvards the saving or taking away of his life, he replies, that he
could do nothing except it were given from above ^ John xix. 10.
as if he had said, Do your worst, 1 know who sealed your com-
mission.

Secondly, This considered, would meeken and quiet the soul,
when troubled by satan within, or his instruments without. 'Tis
satan buffets, man persecutes me, but God who gives them both
power J the Lord (saith David) bids him curse ; the Lord
(saith Job) hath given^ and the Lord hath taken. This
kept the King's peace in both their bosoms. O Christian, look
not on the jailor that whips thee, maybe be is cruel, but read the
■warrant, who wrote that, and at the bottom thou shalt find thy
Father's hand.

Secondly, satan's power is limited, and that two ways; he can-
not do what he will, and he shall not do what he can.

First, He cannot do what he will : His desires are boundless,
they walk not only to and fro' here below, but in heaven itself,
where he is pulling down his once fellow angels, knocking down
the carved work of that glorious temple, as with axes and ham-
mers ; yea, unthroning God, and setting himself in his place :
This fool saith in his heart, there is no God ; but he cannot do
this, nor many other things which his cankered malice stirs him
up to wish ; he is but a creature, and so hath the length of his
tether, to which he is staked, and fcannot exceed ; and if God
be safe, then thou also, for thy hfe is hid with Christ in God ; If
1 Iwe (saith Christ), ^ow shall live also. You are engraven on
the table of his heart ; if he plucks one away, he must the other
also. Again, as he cannot hurt the being of God, so he cannot

pry

Against Powers* 165

pry into the hosom of God. He knows not man*s^ much less the
thoughts of God. The astrologers nor their master could bring
back Nebuchadnezzar's dream. As men have their closets for
their own privacy, where none can enter in but with their Hey,
so God keeps the heart as his with-drawingroom, shut to all be-
sides himself; and therefore when he takes upon him to foretel
events, if God teach him not his lesson, nor second causes help
him, he is beside his book ; so, to save his credit, delivers them
dubiously, that his text may bear a gloss suitable to the effect
whatever it is. And when he is bold to tell the state of a person,
there is no weight to be laid on his judgment ; Job was an hypo-
crite in his mouth, but God proved him a liar. Again, thirdly,
he cannot hinder those purposes and counsels of God he knows.
He knew Christ was to come in the flesh, and did his worst, but
could not hinder his landing ; though there were many devices in
his heart, yet the counsel of the Lord concerning him did stand,
yea, was delivered by the midwifery of satan's suggesting, and
his instruments executing his lust, as they thought, but fulfilling
God's counsel against themselves. Fourthly, he cannot ravish
thy will, Diabolus twn est jussor vitiorum, sed incentor. He
cannot command thee to sin against thy will ; he can motnm agere^
make the soul go faster that is on its way, as the wind carries the
tide with more swiftness, but he cannot turn the stream of the
heart contrary to its own course and tendency.

Secondh^, satan's power is so limited, that he shall not do what
he can : God lets out so n)uch of his wrath as shall praise him,
and be as a stream to set his purpose of love to his saints on work,
and then lets down the flood-gate, by restraining the residue there-
of; God ever takes him olt before he can finish his work on a
saint. He can ^if God suffers him) rob tl>e Christian of much
of his joy, and disturb his peace by his cunning insinuations, but
he is under command ; he stands like a dog by the table, while
the saints sit at this sweet feast of comfort, but dares not stir to
roam off their cheer, his Master's eye is on him. The want of
this consideration loseth God his praise, and us our comfort, God
having locked up our comfort in the performance of our duty.—
Did the Christian consider what satan's power is, and who dams
it up, this would always be a song of praise in his mouth. Hath
satan power to rob and burn, kill and slay, torment the body,
distress the mind ? Whom may I think that I am in any of these
out of his hands ? Doth satan love one better than Job ? or am
I out of sight, OP beside his walk ? Is his courage cooled, or his
wrath appeased, that 1 escape so well ? No, none of these, his
wrath is not against one, but all the saints ; his eye is on thee,
and his arm can reach thee ; his spirit is not cowed, nor his sto-
mach staid with those millions he hath devoured, but keen as ever,

L 2 vea,

166 Against Powers,

yea, sharper, because now he sees God ready to take away, aad
the end of the world drawing on so fast. 'Tis thy God alone
whom thou art beholden to for all this ; his eye keepeth thee ;
when satan finds the good man asleep, then he Q^ads our good God
awake ; therefore thou art not consumed, because he changeth
not. Did his eye slumber or wander one moment, there would
need no other flood to drown thee, yea, the whole world, than
what would come out oF this dragon's mouth.

Thirdly, satan's power is ministerial, appointed by God for
the service and benefit of the saints : 'tis true (as its said of the
proud Assyrian) he meanet/i not *o, neither doth his heart think
so, Isa. X. 7. but it is in his heart to destroy those he tempts:
but no matter what he thinks. As Luther comforted himself,
when told what had passed at the diet at Nuremberg against the
Protestants, that it was decreed one way there, but otherwise in
heaven ; so for the saint's comfort, the thoughts which God
thinks to make them are peace, while satan*s are ruin to their
graces, and destruction to their souls ; and his counsel shall stand
in spite of the devil. The very mittimus which God makes, when
he commits any of his saints to the devil's prison, runs thus, —
Deliver such a one to satan for the destruction ofthejiesh^ that
the spirit may he saved in the day of the Lord Jesus^ 1 Cor. v. 5.
So that tempted saints may say, we had perished if we had not
perished to our own thinking. This leviathan, while he thinks
to swallow them up, is but sent of God (as the whale to Jonah)
to waft them safe to land. Some of them of understanding shall
fall to try them^ and to purge Ihem^ and to make them white^
Dan. xi. 35. This God intends when he lets his children fall into
temptation, as we do with our linen ; the spots they get at our
feasts, are taken out by washing, rubbing, and laying them out
to bleach. The saint's spots are most in peace, plenty, and
prosperity, and they never recover their whiteness to such a de-
gree, as when they come from under satan's scowering. We do
too little, not to fear satan ; we should comfort ourselves with the
usefulness and subserviency of his temptations to our good. All
things are yours, who are Christ's. He that hath given life to
be yours, hath given death also. He that hath given heaven for
your inheritance, Paul and Cephas, his ministers and ordinances
to help you thither, hath given the world, with all the afflictions
of it, yea, the prince of it too, with all his wrath and power, in
order to the same end. This indeed is love and wisdom in 'a
riddle, but you who have the spirit of Chribt can unfold it.

CHAP.

Against the Rulers of Darkness^ Sfc» 167

CHAP. V.

Of the Time tvhen^ the Place where, and the Subjects whom
Satan rules* Against the liulers of the Darkness of this
Wotld,

''f^HESE words contain the third branch in the description of
* our great enemy the devil ; and they hold forth the proper
seat of his empire^ with a three-fold boundary ; he is not lord
over all ; that is the incommunicable title of God; but a ruler of
the darknesa of this worlds where the time, place, and subjects
of his empire are stinted.

1. The time when this prince hath his rule, In this world;
that is, now, not hereafter.

2. The place where he rules. In this world, that is, here be-
low, not in heaven.

3. The subjects or persons whom he rules, not all in this lower
world neither ; and they are wrapt up in these words. The dark"
ness of this world. First, of the first boundary.

SECT. I. — 1. The time when he rules ; so this word [world'\
may be taken in the text for that little spot of time, which (like
an inconsiderable parenthesis) is clasped in on either side with vast
eternity, called sometimes the present world. Tit. ii. 152{, On
this stage of time, this mock>king acts the part of a prince ; but
when Christ comes to take down this scaffold at the end of this
world, then he shall be degraded, his crown taken off, his sword
broken over his head, and he hissed off with scorn and shame ;
yea, of a prince, become a close prisoner in hell ; no more then
shall he infect the saints, no, nor rule the wicked ; but he with
them, and they with him, shall lie under the immediate execu-
tion of God's wrath. For this very end Christ hath his patent
and commission, which he will not give up till he shall have put
down all rule, 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25. Then, and not till then, will
he deliver up his oeconomical kingdom to his Father, when he
shall have put down all rule ; for he must reign till he have put
all enemies under his feet. Satan is cast already, his doom is
past upon him, as Adam's was, upon his first sin, but full execu-
tion is stayed till the end of the world. The devil knows it, it is
an article in his creed, which made him trembling ask Christ why
lie came to torment him before his time.

Use 1. First, this brings ill news to the wicked. Your Prince
cannot long sit in his throne ; sinners at present have a merry
time of it, if it would hold ; they rejoice while Christ's disciples
weep and nrourn ; they rustle in their silks, while the saint goes
in his rags. Princes are not more careful to oblige their cour-

L 3 tiers

1^8 Against the Rulers of the

tiers with pensions and preferments, than the devil is to gratify
his followers. He hath his rewards also ; All this I will give thee.
Am not I able to promote thee ? saith Balak to Balaam. O 'tis
strange (and yet not strange, considering the degeneracy of man's
nature), to see how Satan carries sinners after him with this
golden hook. Let him but present such a bait as honour, pelf,
or pleasure, and their hearts skip after it as a dog would at a crust ;
he makes them sin for a morsel of bread : O the naughty heart of
man loves the wages of unrighteousness (which the devil promis-
eth) sodearly, that it fears not the dreadful wages which the great
God threatens. As sometimes you shall see a spaniel so greedy
of a bone, that he will leap into the very river for it, if you throw
it thither, and by the time he comes with much ado thither, it is
sunk, and he gets nothing but a mouthful of water for his pains :
thus sinners will catch at their desired pleasures, honours, and
profits, swimming through the very threatenings of the word to
them, and oftentimes they lose even what they gaped for here.
Thus, God kept Balaam (as Balak told him) from honour^
INumb. xxiv. 11. But however they speed hepe, they are sure
to lose themselves everlastingly without repentance. They that
are resolved they will have these things, are the men that fall in-
to the devil's snare, and are led into those foolish and hurtful lusts
"which will drown them in destruction and perdition, 1 Tim. vi. 9.
O poor sinners ! were it not wisdoni, before you truck with the
devil, to enquire what title he can give you to those goodly vani-
ties ? Will he settle them as a free estate upon yon? Can he se-
cure your bargain, and keep you from suits of law ? Or is he able
to put two lives into the purchase, that when you die you may not
be left destitute in another world ? Alas, poor wretches ! you
shall 'ere long see what a cheat he hath put on you, from whom
you are like to have nought but caveat emptor : Let the buyer
look to that. Yea, this great Prince that is so brag to tell what
he will give you, must down himself; and a sad prince must needs
make a sad court. O what howling will there then be of Satan
and his vassals together ? O, but saith the sinner, the pleasures
and honours sin and satan offer are present, and that which Christ
promiseth we must stay for* This indeed is that which takes
most. Demas^ saith Paul, forsook me^ having^oved this present
worlds 2 Tim. iv. 10. *Tis present indeed (sinners), for you can-
not say it will be yours the next moment ; your present felicity is
going, and the saint's (though future) is coming never to go : and
who, for a gulp of pottage, and sensual enjoyments at present,
would part with a reversion of such a kingdom ? except thou art
of his mind, who thought he had nothing but what he had swal-
lowed down his throat.

Hcec habeo quce edi, qtmqiie exaturata libido

Hauft ^^'^c^» ,

Darkness of this World. 169

Which Cicero would say, was more fit to be wrote on an ox's
grave than a man's. Vile wretch, that thinkest 'tis not better to
deal with God for time, than the devil for ready pay. Tertullian
wonders at the folly of the Roman ambition, who would endure
all manner of hardship in field and fight, for no other thing but to
obtain at last the honour to be consul, which he calls unius anni
volatwum gaudium^ 3, joy that flies away at the year's end. But
O what a desperate madness is it for sinners then, not to endure a
little hardship here, but entail on themselves the eternal wrath of
God hereafter, for the short feast and running banquet their lusts
entertain them here withal, which often is not gaudium unius
horce^ * joy that lasts an hour.

Use w. Secondly, Let this encourage thee, O Christian, in thy
conflict with satan ; the skirmish may be sharp, but it cannot be
long. Let him tempt thee, and his wicked instruments trounce
thee ; 'tis but a little while, and thou shalt be rid of both their
evil neighbourhoods. The cloud, while it drops, is rolling over thy
head, and then comes fair weather, and eternal sun-shine of glory.
Canst thou not watch with Christ one hour or two ? keep the
field ^ few days ? If yield, thou art undone for ever ; persevere
but until the battle is over, and thine enemy shall never rall^
more ; bid faith look through the key-hole of the promise, and
tell thee what it sees there laid up for him that overcomes ; bid
it listen and tell thee, whether it cannot hear the shouts of those
crowned saints, as of those that are dividing the spoil, and re-
ceiving the reward of all their services and suflPerings here on
earth : and doest thou stand on the other side afraid to wet thy
foot with those suflTerings and temptations, which, like a plash of
water, run between thee and glory.

SECT. II. — Secondly, The devil's empire is confined to place
as well as time : he is the ruler of this lower world, not of the hea-
venly. The highest the devil can go is the air, called the prince
thereof, as being the utmost marches of his empire ; he hath no-
thing to do with the upper world. Heaven fears no devil, and
therefore its gates stand always open ; never durst this fiend look
into that holy place since he was first expelled, but rangeth to and
fro' here below as a vagabond creature, excommmiicated the pre-
sence of God, doing what mischief he can to saints in their way
to heaven : But is not this great matter of great joy, that satan
hath no power tli^e where the saint's happiness lies ? What hast
thou (Christian) which thou needest value that is not there ?
fhy Christ is thei-e, and if thou lovest him, thy heart also, which
lives in the bosom of its beloved. Thy friends and kindred in
Christ are there, or expected, with whom thou shalt have a merry
meeting in thy father's house, notwithstanding the snare on Ta-
bor, the plots of satan which lie in the way. O friends, get a

L 4 title

170 Against the Rulers of the

title to that kingdom, and you are above the flight of this kite.—
This made Job a happy man indeed, who, when the devil had
plundered hira to his skin, and worried him almost out of that
too, could then vouch Christ in the face of death and devils to be
his Redeemer, whom he should, with those eyes that now stood
full with brinish tears, behold, and that for himself as his own
portion. It is sad with him indeed, who is robbed of all he is
worth at once ; but this can never be said of a saint. The devil
took away Job's purse (as I may say) which put him into some
straits, but he had a God in heaven that put him into stock again.
Some spending money thou hast at present in thy purse, in the ac-
tivity of thy faith, the evidence of thy son^ship, and the comfort
flowing from the same, enlargement in duty, and the like, which
satan may for a time disturb, yea, deprive thee of, but he cannot
come to the rolls to blot thy name out of the book of life : he can-
not null thy faith, make void thy relation, dry up thy comfort in
the spring, though dam up the stream ; nor hinder thee a happy
issue of thy whole war with sin, though worst thee in a private
skirmish ; these all are kept in heaven, among God's own crown-
jewels, who is said to keep us by his power through faith unto
salvation*

SECT. III. — The third boundary of the devil's principality is
in regard of his subjects, and they are described here to be /Ae
darkness of this Ivor Id^ that is, such who are in darkness. This
word is used sometimes to express the desolate condition of a crea-
ture in some great distress, Isa. 1. He that walks in darkness^
and sees no light : sometimes to express the nature of all sin,
so Ephes. V. 1 . sin is called the work of darkness ; sometimes
the particular sin of ignorance; often set out by the darkness
of the night, blindness of the eye ; all these I conceive may be
meant, but chiefly the latter : for though satan makes a foul stir
in the soul ; that is, in the dark of sorrow, whether it be from out-
ward crosses, or inward desertions ; yet if the creature be not in
the darkness of sin at the same time, though he may disturb his
peace as an enemy, yet cannot be said to rule as a prince. Sin
only sets satan in the throne ; so that I shall take the words in
the two latter interpretations.

First, for the darkness of sin in general.

Secondly, for the darkness of ignorance in special ; and the
sense will be. That the devil's rule is over those that are in a
state of sin and ignorance, not over those who are sinful or igno-
rant; so he would take hold of saints as well as others; but over
those who are in a state of sin, which is set out by the abstract,
Hulerofthe darkness^ the more to express the fulness of the sin
and ignorance that possesseth satan's slaves ; and the notes will be

two.

First,

Darkness of this World. 171

First, Every soul in a state of sin is under the rule of satan.

Secondly, Ignorance, above other things, enslaves a soul to
satan ; and therefore all sins are set out by that which chiefly ex-
presseth this, t'««. darkness.

Doct, Every soul in a state of sin is under the rule of satan ;
under which point these two things must be inquired*

First, The reason why sin is set out by darkness.

Secondly, How every one in such a state appears to be under
the devil's rule. For the first :

First, sin may be called darkness, because the spring and com-
mon cause of sin in man is darkness. The external cause, satan,
who is the great promoter of it, he is a cursed spirit held in
chains of darkness. The internal is the blindness and darkness of
the soul : we may say, when any one sins, he doth he knows not
what, as Christ said of his murderers. Did the creature know
the true worth of the soul (which he now sells for a song), the
glorious amiable nature of God and his holy ways, the matchless
love of God in Christ, the poisonous nature of sin, and all these
not by a sudden beam darted into the window at a sermon, and
gone again, like a flash of lightning, but by an abiding light; this
would spoil the devil's market, and poor creatures would not rea-
dily take this toad into their bosoms ; sin goes in a disguise, and
so is welcome.

Secondly, it is darkness, because it brings darkness into the
soul, and that naturally and judicially.

First, Naturally. There is a noxious quality in sin oflTensive
to the understanding, which is to the soul what the eye and pa-
late are to the body ; it discerns of things, and distinguisheth true
from false, as the eye white from black: It trieth words as the
mouth tasteth meats. Now, as there are some things bad for the
sight, and others bad for the palate, vitiating it, so that it shall
not know sweet from bitter ; so here sin besots the creature, and
makes it unjudicious, that he who could see such a practice absurd
and base in others before, when once he had drank of this inchant-
ing cup himself (asonethat hath foredone his understanding), ismad
ofit himself, not able now to see the evil of it, or use hisreason against
it. Thus Saul, before he had debauched his conscience, thinks the
witch worthy of death ; but after he had trodden his conscience
hard with other foul sins, goes to ask counsel of one himself.

Again, sin brings darkness judicially ; such have been threat-
ened, whose ear God hath been trying to open and instruct, and
have run out of God's school into the devil's, by rebelling against
light, ih&t they sha\\ die withouf knowledge^ Job xxxvi. 10. 12.
What, should the candle burn waste, when the creature hath
more mind to play than work ?

Thirdly, Sin runs into darkness. Impostors bring in their

damnable

1ft Against the Bulers of the

damnable heresies primly^ like those who sell bad ware, loth to
come to the market, where the standard tries all ; but put it off in
secret : So in mortal wickedness ; sinners, like beasts, go out in
the night for their prej'^, lotli to be seen, afraid to come where
they should be found out. Nothing more terrible to sinners than
the light of truth, John iii. 19. Because their deeds are evil. —
Felix was so nettled with what Paul spake, that he could not sit
out the sermon, but flings away in haste, and adjourns the hear-
ing of Paul till a convenient season, but he never could find one.
The sun is not more troublesome in hot countries, than truth is to
those who sit under the powerful preaching of it ; and therefore
as those seldom come abroad in the heat of the day, and when
they must have their devices over their heads, to skreen them
from the sun ; so sinners shun as much as may be the preaching
of the word ; but if they must go, to keep in with their relations,
or for other carnal advantages, they, if possible, will keep off the
power ot truth, either by sleeping the sermon away, or prating it
away with any foolish imagination which satan sends to bear them
company and chat with them at such a time ; or by choosing such
a cool preacher to sit under, whose toothless discourse shall rather
flatter than trouble, rather tickle their fancy than prick their con-
sciences ; and then their sore eyes can look upon the light. Flo-
rescentem amant verifatem qui non redarguenlur ; thej^ dare
handle and look on the sword with a delight, when in a rich scab-
bard, who would run away to see it drawn.

Fourthly, Sin is darkness for its uncomfortableness, and that
in a threefold respect.

First, Darkness is uncomfortable, as it shuts out of all employ-
ment. What ceuld the Egyptians do under the plague of dark-
ness, but sit still ? and this to an active spirit is trouble enough.
Thus in a state of sin man is an unserviceable creature, he can do
his God no service acceptably, spoils every thing he takes in
hand ; like one running up and down in a shop with windows
shut, doth nothing right. It may be writ on the grave of every
sinner, who lives and dies in that state, " Here lies the man
*' that never did God an hour's work in all his life."

Secondly, Darkness is uncomfortable in point of enjoyment :
be there ever such rare pictures in the room, if dark, who the
better ? A soul in a state of sin may possess much, but enjoys
nothing: This is a sore evil, and little thought of. One thought
of its state of enmity to God would drop bitterness into every
cup : all he hath, smells of hell-fire ; and a man at a rich feast
would enjoy it sure but little, if he smelt fire ready to burn his
house and himself.

Thirdly, Darkness fills with terrors ; fears in the night are
most dreadful j a state of sin is a state of fear. Men that owe

" much

Darkness of tMs World. 173

much, have no quiet, but when they are asleep ; and not theu
neither ; the cares and fears of the day sink so deep, as makes
their rest troublesome and unquiet in the night. The wicked
hath no peace, but when his conscience sleeps, and that sleeps
but brokenly, awaking often with sick fits of terror : Vihen he
hath most prosperity, he is scared like a flock of birds in a corn-
field at every piece going off. He eats in fear, and drinks in
fear ; when afflicted, he expects worse behind, and knows not
what this blood may spread to, and where it may lay him j whe-
ther in hell or not, he knows not ; and therefore trembles (as one
in the dark), not knowing but his next step may be into the pit.

Fifthly, Sin leads to utter darkness ; utter daikness is darkness
tt) the utmost. Sin in its full height, and wrath in its full heat
together ; both universal, both eternal. Here's some mixture,
peace and trouble, pain and ease, sin and thoughts of repenting,
sin and hopes of pardon ; there the fire of wrath shall burn with-
out slacking, and sin run parallel with torment : Hell-bird« are'
no changelings ; their torment makes them sin, and their sin feeds
their torment — both unquenchable, one being fuel to another.

2. Let us see how it appears, that such as are under a state of
sin, are under the rule of Satan. Sinners are called the children
of the devil, 1 John iii. 10. and who rules the child but the father ?
They are slaves ; who rules the slave but the master ? Tliey are
the very mansion- bouse of the devil ; where hath a man command^
but in his own house? J tvill go to my home^ Matt. xii. 44. As
if the devil had said, I have walked among the saints of God, to
and fro*, knocking at this door and at that, and none will bid me
welcome, I can find no rest ; well, I know where 1 may be
bold ; 1*11 even go to my own house, and there I am sure to rule
the roast without controul : and wh€7i he comes, he finds it empty ^
^'ept and garnished ; that is, all ready for his entertainment.-—
Servants make the house trim and handsome against their master
comes home, especially when he brings guests with him, as here
the devil brings seven more.

Look to the sinner, there is nothing he is or hath, but the
devil hath dominion over it ; he rules the whole man, their minds
blinding them. All the sinner*s apprehension of things are shapen
by satan : he looks on sin with the devil*s spectacles ; he reads
the word with the deviPs comment : he sees nothing in its native
colours, but is under a continual delusion. The very wisdom of
a wicked man is said to be devilish. Jam. iii. 15. Daimomodes,
or deviUlike, because taught by the devil, and also such as the
devil's is, uise only to do evil. He commands their wills, though
not to force them, yet effectually to draw them. His work (saith
Christ) ye mil do. You are resolved on your way, the devil
hath got your hearts, and him you will obey : and therefore when

Christ

1 74 Against the Rulers of the

Christ comes to recover his throne, be finds the soul in an uproar,
as Ephesus at Paul's sermon, crying him down, and Diana up.
We will not have this man to reign over us ; what is the Almighty,
that we should serve him ? He rules over all their members ;
'they are called weapons of unrighteousness ; all at the devil's
service ; as all the arms of a kingdom, to defend the prince against
any that shall invade. The head to plot, the hand to act, the feet
swift to carry the body up and down about his service. He rules
over all he hath. Let God come in a poor member, and beseech
him to lend him a penny, or bestow a morsel to refresh his crav-
ing bowels; and the covetous wretch's hand of charity is withered,
that he cannot stretch it forth: but let satan call, aod his purse
flies open, and heart also. Nabal that could not spare a few
fragments for David and his followers, this churl could make a
feast like a prince^ to Satisfy his own lust of gluttony and drunk-
enness. He commands their time ; when God calls to duty, to
pray, to hear, no time all the week to be spared for that ; but if
the sinner hears there is a merry meeting, a knot of good fellows at
the ale-house, all is thrown aside to wait on his lord and master ;
calling left at sixes and sevens, yea, wife and children crying
(may be starving) while the wretch is pouring out their very
blood (in wasting their livelihood) at the foot of his lust. The
sinner is in the bond of iniquity ; and being bound, he must obej''.
He is said to go after his lusts, as the fool to the stocks^ Prov.
vii. 22. The pinioned malefactor can as soon untie his own
arms and legs, and so run from his keeper, as he from his lusts.
T'key are servants, and their members instruments of sin : even
as the workman takes up his ax, and it resists not ; so doth satan
dispose of them, except God saith nay.

See here the deplored condition of every one in a state of sin. —
He is under the rule of satan, and government of hell. What
tongue can utter, what heart can conceive the misery of this state ?.
It was a dismal day which Christ foretold, Matth. xxiv. When the
abomination of desolation should be seen^ standing in the Holy
Place : then (saith Christ) let him that is in Judeajiee into the
mountains. But what was that to this ? they are but men, though
abominable ; these devils. They did but stand in the material
temple, and defile and deface that ; but these display their ban-
ners in thC' souls of men, pollute that throne, which is more glo-
rious than the material heaven itself, made for God alone to sit in.
They exercised their cruelties at farthest on the bodies of men,
killing and torturing them : here the precious souls of men are de-
stroyed. When David would curse to purpose the enemies of
God, he prays that satan may be at their right hand, 'Tis
strange sinners should no more tremble at this, who, should they
but see their swine, or a beast, bewitched and possessed of the

devil.

JDarktiess of this World. 175

devil, run headlong into the sea, would cry out as half undone ; and
is not one soul more worth than all these? What a plague is it to
have satan possess thy heart and spirit, hurrying thee in the fury
of thy lusts to perdition I O poor man ! what a sad change hast
thou made ? Thou who wouldst not sit under the meek and peace-
able government of God thy rightful Lord, art paid for thy rebel-
lion against him, in the cruelty of this tyrant, who writes ail his
laws in the blood of his subjects : and why will ye sit any longer
(O sinners) under the shadow of this bramble, from whom you
can expect nothing but eternal fire, to come at last and devour
you ? Behold Christ is in the field, sent of God to recover his
right, and your liberty. His royal standard is pitched in the gos-
pel, and proclamation made, that if any poor sinners, weary of
the devil's government, and heavy laden with the miserable chains
of his spiriiual bondage, (so as these irons of his sins enter into
his very soul to afflict it with the sense of them^ shall thus come,
and repair to Christ : he shall have protection from God's justice,
the devil's wrath, and sin's dominion j in a word, he shall have
rest, and that g/o/«o//*. Mat. xi. 28. Isa. xi. 10. Usually when
a people have been ground with the oppression of some bloody ty-
rant, they are apt enough to long for a change, and to listen to
any overture that gives them hope of liberty, though reached by
the hand of a stranger, who may prove as bad as the other ; yet
bondage is so grievous, that people desire to change (as sick men
their beds), though they find little ease thereby. Why thea
should deliverance be unwelcome to you, sinners ? Deliverance,
brought not by a stranger whom you need fear what his design is
upon you, but your near kinsman in blood, who cannot mean you
ill, but he must first hate his own flesh ; and who ever did that '?
To be sure not he ; who, though he took pait of our flesh, that
he might have the right of our Redeemer, yet would have no
kindred with us in the sinfulness of our nature, Heb. ii. 14, 15.
And 'tis sin that makes us cruel, yea, to our own flesh. What
can you expect from him but pure mercy, who is himself pure ?
They are the mercus of the wicked which are cruel^ Heb. iv. 15.
Believe it, (Sirs^ Christ counts it his honour, that he is a king of
a willing people, and not of slaves. He comes to make you free,
not to bring you into bondage ; to make you kings, not vassals.
None gave Christ an evil word, but those whenever were his
subjects. Enquire but of those who have tried both satan's ser-
vice and Christ's ; they are best able to resolve you" what they
are. You see when a soul comes over from satan's quarters unto
Christ's, and has but once the experience of that sweetness which is
in his service, there's no getting him back to his old drudgery ; as
they say of those who come out of the north (which is cold and
poor), they like the warm south so well, they seldom go back

more.

176 Against the Balers af the

more. What more dreadful to a gracious soul than to be deliver-
ed into the hands of satan ? or fall under the power of his lusts ?
It would choose rather to leap into a burning furnace, than be
commanded by them. This is the great request a child of God
makes, that he would rather whip him in his house, than turn
him out of it to become a prey to satan. O sinners, did you
know (which you cannot till you come over to Christ, and em-
brace him as your Lord and Saviour) what the privileges of
Christ's servants are, and what gentle usage saints have at Christ's
hands, you would say those were the only happy men in the world,
which stand continually before him. His laws are writ, not with
his subjects' blood (as satan's are), but with his own. All his
commands are acts of grace ; 'tis a favour to be employed about
them. To you 'tis given to believe, yea, to suffer, Phil. i. ^3.
Such an honour the saints esteem it to do any thing he commands,
that they count God rewards them for one piece of service, if he
enables them for another. This 1 had (said David) because I
kept thy precepts, Psal. cxix. 56. What was the great reward
he got ? see ver. 55. / have rememhered thy ?iame^ O JLord^
in the nighty and kept thif law : then follows. This I had : He
got more strength and skill to keep the law for the future, by his
obedience past ; and was he not well paid (think you) for his
pains ? There^s fruit even m holiness^ the Christian hath in hand,
which he eats while he is at work, that they may stay his stomach
until the full reward comes, which is eternal life^ Rom. vi. 22.
Jesus Christ is a prince that loves to see his people thrive, and
grow rich under his government. This is he whom sinners are so
afraid of, that when he sets open their prison, and bids them
come forth, they choose rather to bore their ears to the devil's
post, than enjoy this blessed liberty. It is no wonder that some
of the saints have (indeed when tortured) not accepted deliver-
ance^ that they might obtain a better resurrection, Heb. xi. 3.
But what a riddle is this, that forlorn souls, bound with the chains
of their lusts, and the irresistible decree of God for their damna-
tion, if they believe not the Lord Jesus, should, as they are driv-
ing to execution, refuse deliverance ; this may set heaven and earth
to wondering. Surely, dying in their sins, they cannot hope to
have a better resurrection than they have a death. I am afraid
they do not firmly believe that they shall have any resurrection ;
and then no wonder they make so light of Christ's offer, who think
themselves safe, when once earthed in this burrow of the grave.
But let sinners know, 'tis not the grave can hold them, when the
day of assizes comes, and the judge calls the prisoners to the bar.
The grave was never intended to be a sanctuary to defend sinners
from the hand of justice, but a close prison to secure them against
the day of trial, that they may be forth-coming. Then sinners

, shall

Darkness of ihis World, 177

shall be digged out of their burrows, and dragged out of their
holes, to answer their contempt of Christ and his grace. O how
will you be astonished to see hira become your judge, whom you
now refuse to be your king ! to hear that gospel witness against
you for your damnation, which at the same time shall acquit others
for their salvation ! What think you to do, sinner, in that day ?
wilt thou cry and^cream for mercy at Christ's hand ? Alas, when
the sentence is past, thv face will immediately be covered : con-
demned prisoners are not allowed to speak ; tears then are unpro-
fitable, when no place is left for repentance, either in Christ's
heart or thine own. Or meanest thou to apply thyself to thy old
Ijord, in whose service thou hast undone thy soul, and cry to him,
as she to Ahab, Help, O king ? Alas, thine eye shall see hira in
the same condemnation with thyself. Hadst thou not better now
renounce the devil's rule, whilst thou may be received into Christ's
government ? pour out thy tears and cries now for mercy and grace
when they are to be had, than to save them for another world to
no purpose !

Quest. But possibly thou wilt say, How may 'J, that am a
Mme-born slave to stfif yea^ who have lived so many years under
his cursed rule^ get out of his dotnimon and power, and be trans--
lated into the kingdom of Christ 9

Ans, The difficulty of this great work lies not in prevailing
with Christ to receive thee for his subject, who refuseth none that
in truth of heart desire to, come under his shadow. It doth not
stand with his design to reject any such. Do pliysicians use to
chide their patients away ? Lawyers their clients ? or generals
discourage those who fall off from the enemy, and come to their
side ? Surely no. When David was in the field, 'tis said, 2- Sara,
xxii. 2. Kvery man that was in distress, in debt^ in discontent^
gathered themselves to him^ and he became a captain over them.
And so will Chiist be to every one that is truly discontented with
Satan's government, and, upon an inward dislike thereof, repairs
to him. But the main business will be to take thee off from thy
engagements to thy lusts and satan, till which be done, Christ
will not own thee as his subject, but look on thee as a spy. It fares
with thee as with servants. 1'here may be fallings out be-
tween them and their masters, and high words pass between them,
that you would think they would take up their pack and begone
in all haste ; but the fray is soon over, and by next morning all is
forgot, and the servants are as hard at their work as ever. O
how oft are sinners taking their leave of their lusts, and giving ^
warning to their old masters, they will repent and reform, and
what not? but in a few days they have repented of their repent-
ance, and deformed their reformings, wnich shews they were
drunk with some passion, when they thought or spake this j and

no

178 Against the Rulers of the

no wonder they reserve all when thejr come to their true temper*
Now because satan has many policies, by which, he useth to keep
his hold of sinners ; I shall discover some of them, which, if thou
canst withstand, it will be no hard matter to bring thee out of his
power and rule.

First, Satan doth his utmost, that sinners may not have any
serious thoughts of the miserable state they are in, while under
his rule ; or hear any thing from others, which might the least un-
settle their minds from his service. Consideration (he knows) is
the first step to repentance : he that doth not consider his ways
what they are, and whither they lead him, is not like to change
them in haste. Israel stirred not, until Moses came, and had some
discourse with them about their woeful slavery, and the gracious
thoughts of God towards them ; and then they began to desire to
be gone. Pharaoh soon bethought him what consequence might
follow upon this, and cunningly labours to prevent it by doubling
their task : ye are idle, ye are idle, therefore ye say. Let its go^
and do sacrifice to the JLord, Go therefore and work, Exod. v.
17. 18. As if he had said. Have you as much spare time to think
of gadding into the wilderness, and have you your seditious con-
venticles (Moses and you) to lay your plots together ? I'll break
the knot ; give them more work, sciitter them all over the land to
gather straw, that they may not meet to entice one another's
heart from my service. Thus satan is very jealous of the sinner,
afraid of every Christian that speaks to him, or ordinance he hears
to inveigle him. By his goodwill he should come at neither;
110, nor have a thought of heaven or hell from one end of the week
to the other ; and that he may have as few as may be, he keeps
him full -handed with work. 'I'he sinner grinds, and he is filling
the hopper that the mill may not stand still. He is with the sin-
ner as soon as he wakes, and fills his wretched heart with some
wicked thoughts, which, as a morning draught, may keep him
from the infection of any savour of good, that may be breathed on
him by others in the day-time. All the day long he watcheth
him, as the master would do his man that he fears will run away.
And at night, he, like a careful jailor, locks him up again in his
chamber with more bolts and fetters upon him, not suffering him
to sleep as he lies on his bed, till he hath done some mischief
liukexv. Ah, poor wretch ! was ever a slave so looked to ? As
long as the devil can keep thee thus, thou art his own sure enough.
The prodigal came to himself before he came to his father. He
considered with himself what a starving condition he was in ; his
husks were poor meat, and yet he had not enough of them neither ;
and how easily he might mend his commons, if he had but grace
to go home, and humble himself to his father. Now, and not
till now, he goes. Resolve thus, poor sinner, to sit down and

consider

Darkness of this World. 179

consider what thy state is, and what it might be, if thou wouldst
bwjt change the bondage of satan for the sweet goveinraent of
Jesus Christ, first, ask thy soul whether the devil can, after
thou hast worn out thy miserable life' here in his drudgery, prefer
thee to a happy state in the other world, or so much as secure
thee from a state of torment and woe ? If he cannot, whether
there be not one Jesus Christ, who is able and willing to do it ?
and if so, whether it be not bloody cruelty to thy precious soul,
to stay any longer under the shadow of this bramble, when thou
mayest make so blessed a change ? A few of these thoughts abid-
ingly laid home to thy soul, may (God striking in with them)
shake the foundations of the deviTs prison, and make thee haste as
fast from him, as one out of a bouse on lire about his ears.

Secondly, Satan hath his instruments to oppose the messengers
and overtures which God sends by them to bring the sinner out of
Satan's rule. When Moses came to deliver Israel out of the Egyp-
tian bondage, upstarts Jannes and Jambres to resist him. Wliea
Paul preached to the deputy, the devil hath his chaplain at court
to hinder him ; Elymas, one that was/w// of all subtilty and mtS"
chief Some or other (to be sure^ he will find, when God is
parleying with a sinner, and persuading him to come over to
Christ, that shall labour to clog the work. Either carnal friends,
these he sends to plead his cause, or old companions in wicked-
ness, these bestir them, one while labouring to jeer him out of his
new way ; or if that take not, by turning their old love into bit-
ter wrath against him for playing the apostate, and leaving him
so. Or if he will not be stopped in his way, then he hath his
daubing preachers (still like Job's messengers, the last the worst),
who with their foul flattering, or rather murdering doctrine, shall
go about to heal his wound slightly. Now as ever you desire to
get out of Satan's bondage, have a care of all these, harden thy-
self against intrcaties of carnal friends and relations. Resolve
that if thy children should hang about thy knees to keep thee
from Christ, thou wilt throw them away. If thy father and mo-
ther should lie prostrate at thy feet, rather than not go to Christ,
go over their very backs to him. Never can we part with their
love upon such advantageous terms as these. And for thy brer
thren in iniquity, 1 hope thou dost not mean to stay while thou
hast their good will, then even ask the devil's also. Heaven is
but little worth if thou hast not a heart to despise a little shame,
and bear a few frumps from profane Ishmaels for thy hopes of it.
liet them spit on thy face, Christ will wipe it off; let them laugh,
so thou win nest. If they follow not thy example before they
die, the shame will be their own ; God himself shall spit it on their
face before men and angels, and then kick them into hell. And,
lastly, escape but tlue snare of those flatterers, who use their

M tongues

180 Against the Rulers of the

tongues only to lick sinners consciences whole with their placen-'
tia^s^ soothing doctrine, and thou art fair for a Christ ; ask not
counsel of them ; they may go about to give you ease, but all
those stitches with which they sew up thy wounds, must be rip-
ped open, or thou diest for it.

^ Thirdly, Satan labours to put off the sinner with delays. —
Floating, flitting thought?, of repenting he tears not ; he can give
sinners leave to talk what they will do, so he can beg time, and
by his art keep such thoughts from coming to a head, and ripen-
ing into a present resolution ; few are in hell but thought of re-
penting,- but satan so handled the matter, that they could never
pitch upon the time in earnest when to do it. If ever thou mean-
est to get out of his clutches, fly out of his doors, and run for thy
life ; wherever this warning finds thee, stay not, though in the
midst of thy joys, with which thy lusts entertain thee : As the
paper which came to Brentius (ironi that seiiator his dear friend^
took him at supper with his wife and children, and bade him flee
tito^ citius^ citissime ; which he did, leaving his dear company
and sweet cheer ; so do thou, or else thoumayest repent thy stay
when 'tis too late. A vision chargeth the wise men to go back
another way, and not so much as see Herod, though he had
charged them otherwise. Ogo not back, drunkard, to thy good
fellows, adulterer to thy queans ; covetous wretch, to thy usury
and unlawful gain : turn another way, and gratify not the devil a
moment. The command saith, now repent ; the imperative hath
no future tense. God saith, To-day while it is to-day : the
Devil saith to-morrow ; which wilt thou obey, God or him ?
Thou sayest, thou meanest at last to do it, then why not now ?
Wilt thou stand with God for a day or two, huckle with him for
a penny ? Heaven is not such a hard penny-worth, but thou may-
est come up to his terms : and which is the morrow thou mean-
est ? Thou ha-t but a day in thy life, for aught thou knowest ;
where then canst thou find to-morrow for repentance ? butshouldst
thou have as many days to come as Methuselah lived, yet know,
sin is hereditary, and such soit of diseases grow more upon us
with our years. 'Tis with long accustomed sinners, as with those
who have sat long under a government, they rather like to be as
they are (though but ill on it) than think of a change ; or like those
who in a journey have gone out of the way all the day, will rather
take any new way, over hedge or ditch, than think of going so
far back to be set right.

Fourthly, Satan labours to compromise the business, and bring
it to a composition between him and Christ ; when conscience
will not be pacified, then satan for quiet's sake will yield to some-
thing, as Pharaoh with Moses: after much ado, he is willing they
should go, Exod, viii. 28. And Fkaraoh said, 1 wilt let you go^

that

Darkness of this World, 181

iliatyou may sacrifice to the Lord your God m the mlderness*-^^
But then comes in this caution, only you shall not go very far away.
Thus satan will yield, the sinner may pray and hear the word,
and make a goodly profession, so he doth not go very far, but
that he may have him again at night. If God hath the matins, he
looks for the vigils, and thus he is content the day should be divid-
ed. Doth conscience press a reformation and change of the sin-
ner's course ? rather than fail, he will grant that also ; yet as
Pharaoh when he yielded they should go, he meant their little
ones should stay behind as a pledge for those that went^ Exod. x.
11. So satan must have someone sin that must be spared, and no
matter though it be a little one. Now if ever you would get out
•of the devil's rule, make no composition with him. Christ will be
King or no King. Not a hoof must be left behind, or any thing
which may make an errand for thee afterwards to return. Take
therefore thy everlasting farewell of every sin, as the sincere and
fixed purpose of thy heart, or thou doest nothing. Paul joins his
faith and his purpose together, 2 Tim, iii. 10. not the one with-
out the other. At the promulgation of the law in Sinai, God did,
as it were, give Israel the oath of allegiance to him ; then he told
them what law he would rule them by, ahd they gave their con-
seut : this was the espousal which God puts them in mind of^
Jer. ii. in which they were solemnly married together, as king
and subjects. Now mark, before God would do this, he will
have them out of Egypt. They could not obey his laws, and
Pharaoh's idolatrous customs also, and therefore he will have
them out, before he solemnly espouseth them to be a nation pecu-
liarly his. Thou must be a widow before Christ marry thee ; he
wdll not lie by the side of another's wife. O that it were come to
this ! then the match would soon be made between Christ and thee*
Let me ask thee, poor soul, hast thou seriously considered who
Christ is, and what his sweet government is ? and couldst thou
find in thy heart (out of an inward abhorrency of sin and satan,
and a liking to Christ) to renounce sin and satan, and choose
Christ for thy Lord ! Doth thy soul say, as Rebecca, I will go if I
could tell how to get to him. But alas ! I am here a poor prisoner,
I cannot shake off my fetters, and set myself at liberty to come
unto Christ. Well, poor soul, canst thou groan heartily under
thy bondage ? then for thy comfort know, thy deliverance is at
.the door ; he that heard the cry of Israel in Egypt, will hear
thine also, yea, come and save thee out of the hands of thy lusts
He will not, as some, who entangle thy affections by making lov
to thee, and then give over the suit, and come at thee no more.
If Christ has won thy heart, he will be true for thee, and be at all
the cost to bring thee out of thy prison-house also ; yea, take the
pains to come to thee himself, and bring with hira these wedding-

M 2 garments,

\

182 Against the Rulers of the

garments, in which he will tarry thee from thy prison to his Fa-
ther's house with joy, where thou shalt live not only as a subject
unHer his law, but as a bride in the bosom of his love ; and what
can be added to thy happiness more ? when thy prince is thy
husband, and that such a prince to whom all other are vassal^i,
even the prince of the world himself; and yet so gracious, that
his majesty hinders not his familiar converse with thee a poor
creature, But adds .to the condescent thereof, therefore God
chooseth to mix names of greatness and relation together; the
one to sweeten the other : 'i7/i/ Maker is thy husband^ thy Re-
deemer the Holy One of Israel. The God of the it hole earth
shall he be calkd^ Isa. liv. 5. And to usher in those promises yvith
titles of greatest dread and terror to the creature, tnat hold forth
the greatest condescensions of love ; how can God stoop lower
than come and dwell with a poor humble soul ? which is more
than if he had said, such a one should dwell with him ; for a beg-
gar to live at court is not so much as the king to dwell with him
in his cottage. Yet this promise is ushered in with the most
magnificent titles : Thus saith the high and lofty One^ that /w-
habits eternity i whose name is Holy, I dwell iti the high and
holy pi ace ^ with him also that is of a contrite ftpirit, Isa, Ivii. 1 5.
and why such titles? but to take away the fears which his saints
are prone to take up from them. Will the high and lofty One
(^saith the humble soul) look on me a poor worm ? will ihe holy
God come near such an unclean creature, saith the contrite one?
Isaiah himself cried he was undone at the sight of God, and this
attribute proclaimed before him, Isa. vii. How God prefixeth
these, that the creature may know his majesty and holiness, which
seems so terrible to us, are no prejudice to his love ; yea, so gra-
cious a prince is thy husband, that he delights rather his saints
should call him by the names of love, than state. Thou shalt
call me Is hi, and shalt no more call me Raah\ Hos. ii. 16. —
That is, my husband, not ray Lord.

SECT. IV Doct, The second point follows. Ignorance,

above other sins, enslaves a soul to satan ; a knowing man may
be his slave, but an ignorant one can be no other. K nowledge doth
not make the heart good, but it is impossible without knowledge
it should be good. There are some sins which an ignorant per-
son cannot commit, there are more which he cannot but commit :
knowledge is the key^^ Luke xi. 52. Christ the door, John xv.
Christ opens heaven, knowledge opens Christ. In three parti-
culars the point will appear more fully.

First, Ignorance opens a door for sin to enter.

Secondly, As ignorance lets sin in, so it locks it up into the
soul, and the soul in it.

Thirdly, As it locks it up, so it shuts all means of help out.

First,

Darkness of this World, 1S3

First, Ignorance opens the door for satan to enter in with his
troops of hists ; where the watch is blind, the city is soon taken :
an ignorant man sins, and, like drunken Lot, he knows not when
the tempter comes, nor when he goes ; he is like a man that
walks in his sleep, knows not where he is, nor what he does.—
Father^ forgive them (saith Christ), they kn v not what thty do.
The Apostle, 1 Cor. xv. having reproved the sensuality of some,
verse 3!5J. who made the consideration of death, by which others
are awed from sin, a provocation to sin, Ijct us eat and drinks
fir to-morrow we die, he gives an account of this i^asoning ; All
have not the knowledge of God, An ignorant person is a man in
shape, and a beast in heart. There is no knowledge in the land,
saith the prophet, Hosea iv. 2, and see what a regiment follows
this blind captain, swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and what
not ? We read, 2 Tim. iii. 5. of some laden with sin ; here are
trees full of bitter fruit, and what dung shall we find at the root,
that makes them so fruitful, but ignorance ? sill;i/ women^ and such
who never come to the knowledge of the trttth.

Secondly, Ignorance, as it lets sin in, so it locks it up, and the
soul in it ; such a one lies in satan's inner dungeon, where no light
of conviction conies ; darkness inclines to sleep ; a blind mind and
drowsy conscience go together. When the storm arose, the ma-
riners who were auake, fell a praying to their God ; but the
sleeper fears nothing. Jgijorance lays the soul asleep under the
hatches of stupidity. God hath planted in the beast a natural
fear of that which threatens hurt to it. Go to thrust a beast into
a pit, and it hangs back, nature shews its abhorrency. Man,
being of a nobler nature, and subject to more dangers, God hath
set a double guard on him ; as a natural fear of danger, so a na-
tural shame that covers the face at the doing of an unworthy ac-
tion. Now an ignorant man hath slipped from both these his
keepers ; he sins and blusheth not, because he knows not his
guilt: he wants that magistrate within, who should put him to
shame; neither is he afraid, because he knows not his danger ;
therefore he plays with his sin, as a child with the waves, that by
and by will swallow him up. Conscience is God's alarm to call
the sinner up; it doth not always ring in his ear that hath know-
ledge, being usually set by God to get off at some special hour;
when God is speaking in an ordinance, or striking in a provi-
dence ; but in an ignorant soul, this is silent. The clock cannot
go when the weights are taken off; conscience is only a witness
to what it knows.

Thirdly^ Ignorance shuts out the means of recovery. Friends
and ministers, yea, Christ himself, stands without, and cannot
help the creature, as such threatenings and promises are of no
use j he fears not the one, he desires not the other, because he

M 3 knows

184 Against the Rulers of the

knows neither : Heaven->way cannot be found in the dark ; and
therefore the first thing God doth is to spring in with a light,
and let the creature know where he is, and what the way to get
out of his prison-house, without which all attempts to escape arc
in vain. There is some glimmering light in all : l^on dantur
puree fenebrcB^ I think, is good divinity as well as philosophy :
and tnis night-light may discover many sins, produce inward
pricklings of conscience for them ; yea, stir up the creature to
step aside, rather than drown in such broad waters. There are
some sins so cruel and costly, that the most prostrate soul may in
time be weary of their service for low ends ; but what will all
this come to, if the creature be not acquainted with Christ the
true way to God, faith and repentance the only way to Christ ?
Such a one, after all this bustle, instead of making an escape from
satan, will run full into his mouth another way. There are some
ways which at first seem right to the traveller ; yet wind about
so insensibly, that when a man hath gone far, and thinks himself
near home, he is carried back to the place from whence he set
forth. This will befal every soul ignorant of Christ, and the way ^
of life through him ; after many years travel, as they think, to-
wards heaven, by their good meanings, blind devotions, and re-
formation, when they shall expect to be within sight of heaven,
they shall find themselves even where they were at first, as very
slaves to satan as ever. y

Use 1 . This speaks to you that are parents, see what need you
have of instructing your children, and training them up betimes
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Till these chains of
darkness be knocked off their minds, there is no possibility of
getting them out of the devil's prison ; he hath no such tame
slave as an ignorant soul : Such a one goes before satan (as the
silly sheep before the butcher), and knows not who he is, nor
whither he carries him ; and can you see the devil driving your
children to the shambles, and not labour to rescue them out of his
hands? Bloody parents you are, that can thus harden your
bowels against your own flesh. Now the more to provoke you to
your duty, take these considerations.

1 . Your relation obligeth you to take care of their precious
souls. 'Tis the soul is the child, rather than the body ; and there-
fore in scripture it is put for the whole man. Abraham and Lot
went forth wit/i all the souls they had gotten in Haran^ Gen. xii.
So^ all the souls that came with Jacob into Rgypt ; that is, all
the persons. The body is but the sheath ; and if one should leave
his sword with you to be kept safely for him, would you throw
away the blade, and only preserve the scabbard ? And yet parents
do commonly judge of their care and love to their children by
providing for the outward man, by their breeding and teaching

them

Darkness of this World. 185

them how to live like meu (as they say) when they are dead and
gone, and comport themselves to their civil place and rank in the
world. These thit gs indeed are commendable ; but is not the
most weighty business of all forgotten in the mean time, while no
endeavour is used that they may live as Christians, and know how
to carry themselves in duty to God or man as such ? And caa
they do this without the knowledge of the holy rule they are to
walk by ? I am sure David knew no means effectual without
this, and therefore propounds the question, Wheitwithal shall a
young man cleanse his uai/? and he resolves it in the next words,
6i/ faking heed thereto according to thy word^ Psal. cxix. 1'.—
And how shall they compare their way and the word together, if
not instructed ? Our children are not born with bibles in their
heads or hearts. And who ought to be the instructor, if not the
parent ? yea, who will do it with such natural affection ? As I
have heard sometimes a mother say, in other respects. Who can
take such pains with my child, and be so careful as myself that
am its mother? Bloody parents then they are, who acquaint not
their children with God or his word; what do they but put
them under a necessity of perishing, if God stir not up some to
shew more mercy than themselves to them. Is it any wonder to
hear that ship to be sunk, or dashed upon a rock, which was put
to sea without card or compass ? No more is it, they should in-
gulph themselves in sin and perdition, that aie thrust forth into
the world (which is a sea of tem[)tation) without the knowledge
of God, or their duty to him. Jn the fear of God, think of it, as
parents; your children have souls, and these God set you to
watch over ; it will be a poor account at the last day, if you can
only say. Lord, here are my children, I bred them complete gen-
tlemen, left them rich and wealthy. The rust of that silver you
left them will witness your folly and sin, that you would do so
much for that which rusts, and nothing for the enriching their
minds with the knowledge of God, which would have endured for
ever ; happy if you had left them less money and more knowledge.
2. Consider, it hath ever bei n the saints practice to instruct
and teach their children the way of God. David we find dropping
instruction into his sou holonion, I Chrou. xxviii. . Know thou
the God of thy father ^ and serve him with a perfect hearty and
with a willing mind. Though a king, he did not put it off to his
chaplains, but whetted it on him with his own lips. Neither was
queen Bathsheba forgetful of her duty ; her gracious counsel is
upon record, Prov. xxxj, and that she may do it with more seri-
ousness and solemnity, we find her stirring up her motherly
bowels, to let her son see that she fetched her words deep, even
from her heart ; What my son^ and what the son of my womb !
and what the son of rry vows! ver. 2. Indeed, that coonsiBl is

M 4 most

186 Against the Bulers of the

most like to go to the heart, which comes from thence. Parents
know not what impression such mehing expressions of U)eir love^
mingled with their instructions, leave on their children. God
bids draw forth our souls to the hungry ; that is more than draw
our purse, which may be hard and churlish. Thus we should
draw forth our souls with our instructions. What need I tell of
Timothy's mother and grand- mother, who acquainted him with
the scriptures from his youth ? And truly, I think, that man calls
in question his own saintship, and takes no care to acquaint his
child with God, and the way that leads to him. I have known
some, that, though prophane themselves, have been very solicitous
that their children should have good education ; but never knew
I a saint that was regardless whether his child knew God or not.

3. It is an act of great unrighteousness not to instruct our
children. We read of some that hold the truth in unrighteous'
ness ; among others, those parents do it, that lock up the know-
ledge of those saving truths from their children, which God hath
imparted to themselves. There is a double unrighteousness in it.

ii'irst. They are unrighteous to their children, who may lay as
much claim to their care of instructing them, as to their labour
and industry in laying up a temporal estate for them. If he
should do unrighteously with his child, that should not endeavour
to provide for his outward maintenance, or having gathered an
estate, should lock it up, and deny his child necessaries, then
much more he that lives in ignorance of God, whereby he renders
himself incapable of providing for his child's soul; but most of
all, he that having gathered a stock of knowledge, yet hides it
from his child.

Secondly, They are unrightebus to God.

First, In that they keep that talent in their own hands which
was given to be paid out to their children. When God revealed
himself to Abraham, he had respect to Abraham's children ; and
therefore we find God promising himself this at Abraham's hands,
upon which he imparts his mind to him concerning his purpose of
destroying Sodom : Shall I hide from Abraham (saith God) that
thing which I do'? I know that he will conwiand his children
and his household after him ; and they shall keep the way of the
Lord^ Gen. xviii. 17 — 19. The church began at first in a fa-
mily, and was preserved by the godly care of parents in instruct-
ing their children and household in the truths of God, whereby
the knowledge of God was transmitted from generation to gene-
ration ; and though now the church is not confined to such
strait limits, yet every private family is a little nursery to the
church ; if the nursery be not carefully planted, the orchard will
soon decay. O could you be willing. Christians, that your chil-
dren, when ypu are laid in the dust, should be turned into the

degenerate

Darkness of this World. 187

degenerate plaet of a strange vine, and prove a generation that do
not know Cod ? Atheism needs not be planted ; you do enough
to make your children such, if you do not endeavour to plant re-
ligion in their minds. The very neglect of the gaideuer to sow
and dress his garden, gives advantage enough to the weeds to
come up. This is the difference between religion and Atheism ;
Religion doth not grow without planting, but will die even where
it is planted, without watering. Atheism, irreligion, and pro-
phaneness, are weeds that will grow without setting, but will not
die without plucking up ; all care and means little enough to stub
them up. And therefore you that are parents, and do not teach
your children, deal the more unrighteously with God, because you
neglect the best season in their whole life for planting in them the
knowledge of God, and plucking up the contrary weeds of atheism
and irreligion. Young weeds come up with most ease ; sinful
ignorance in youth becomes wilful ignorance ; yea, impudence ia
age : You will not instruct them when young, and they will scorn
their ministers when they are old.

Secondly, You deal unrighteously with God, that train not up
your children in the knowledge of God, because your children, if
you be Christian parents, are God's children ; they stand in a
foederal relation to him, which the children of others do not ; and
shall God's children be nurtured with tne devil's education ? Ig-
norance is that which he blinds the minds of the children of diso-
bedience withal. Shall God's children have no better breeding?
The children of a Jew God made account were born to him, tinf
sons and daughters whom thou hast horn to me, Ezek. xvi. 20.
God had by the covenant which he made with that people, mar-
ried them unto himself; and therefore, as the wife bears her
children to her husband (they are his children^, so God calls the
children of the Jews his, and complains of it as an horrible,
wickedness in them, that they should not bring, them up as his,
but oiFer them up to Moloch ; they have slain my children (saith
God) ver. 21. And are not the children of a Christian his chil-
dren, as well as the Jews were ? Hath God recalled or altered
the first covenant, and cut off the entail ? and darest thou slay not
only thy children, but the Lord's also ? and is not ignorance that
bloody knife that doth it ? My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge^ Hos. iv. 6. Do you not tremble to offer them, not
to Moloch, but the devil, whom before you had given up to God,
when you brought them to that solemn ordinance of baptism, and
there desired, before God and man, that they might become^
covenant-servants to the Liord ? And hast thou bound them to
him, and never taught them, either who their Lord and Master
is, or what their duty is as his servants ? Out of thy own mouth
will God coudemu thee.

Fourthly,

198 Against the Rulers of the

Fourthly, Consider, you who are parents, that by not instruct-
ing your children, you entitle yourselves to all the sins they shall
commit to their death. We may sin by a proxy, and make ano-
ther's fact our own. Thou hast (said God by Nathan to David
concerning Uriah) slain him with the sword of the children of
Amnion^ 2 Sam. xii. 9. So thou raayest pierce Christ, and slay
him over and over with the bloody sword oF thy wickfed children,
if thou beest not the more careful to train them up in the fear of
God. There might be something said for that heathen, who,
xvhen the scholar abused him, fell upon the master and struck
him : indeied 'tis possible he might be most in the fault. When
the child breaks the Sabbath, it is his sin ; but more the father's,
if he never taught him what the command of God was. And if
the parent be accessary to the sin of the child, it will be hard for
him to escape a partnership, yea, a precedency in the punish-
ment. O what a sad greeting will such have of their children at
the great day I Will they not then accuse you to be the mur-
derers of their precious souls, and lay their blood at your door,
cursing you to your face, that taug'ht them no better ? But grant,
that by the interposition of thy timely repentance, thou securest
thy soul from the judgment of that day, yet God can scourge thee
here for the neglect of thy duty to them. How oft do we sec
children become heavy crosses to such parents ? It is just that
they shonld not know their duty to thee, who didst not teach
them their duty to God j or if thou shouldst not live so long as
to see this, yet sure thou canst not but go in sorrow to thy grave,
to leave children behind thee that are on their way to hell. —
Some think, that Lot's lingering so long in Sodom, was his loth-
ness to leave his sons-in-law behind him, to perish in the flames.
No doubt (good man) it was very grievous to him, and this might
make him stay pleading with them, till the angel pulled him away.
And certainly nothing makes holy parents more loth to be gone
out of the reach of that fire (before they go) that God will rain
upon the heads of sinners. You know not how soon the mes-
senger may come to pluck you hence ; do your best while you are
among them to win them home to God.

Use 2. To the ministers of the gospel. Let this stir up yout
bowels of compassion towards those many ignorant souls in your
respective congregations, who know not the right hand from the
left. This, this is the great destroyer of the country, which
ministers should come forth against with all their care and
strength. More are swept to hell with this plague of spiritual
darkness than any other. Where the light of knowledge and
conviction is, there commonly is a sense and pain that accom-
panies the sinner when he doth evil, which forceth some now and
thea to enquire for a physician, and come in the distress of their

spirits

Darkness of this World, 189

-spirits to tlie minister or others for counsel ; but the ignorant
soul feels no smart. If the minister stay till he sends for him to
instruct him, he ma}^ sooner hear the bell go for him, than any
messenger come for him ; you must seek them out, and not ex-
pect that they will come to you. These are a sort of people that
are afraid more of their remedy than their disease, and study more
to hide their ignorance, than how they may have it cured ; which
should make us pity them the more, because they can pity them-
selves so little. I confess, it is no small unhappiness to some of
us, who have to do with a multitude, that we have neither time
nor strength to make our addresses to every particular person in
our congregations, and attend on them as their needs require, and
yet cannot well satisfy our consciences otherwise. But let us
look" to it, that though we cannot do to the height of what we
would, we be not found wanting in what we may. Let not the
difficulty of our province make us like some, who, when they sec
ihey have more work upon their hands than they can well dis-
patch, grow sick ot* it, and sit down out of a lazy despondency,
and do just nothing. He that hath a great house running to ruin,
and but a smalLpurse, 'tis better for him to repair now a little
and then a little, than let all fall down, because he cannot do it
all at once. Many ministers may complain of their predecessors,
that they left them their people more out of repair than their
houses, and this makes the work great indeed : as the Jews, who
were to revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, before they
could build the wall, yet it went up, because the people had a
mind to work^ Neh. 4. O if once our hearts were but filled with
zeal for God, and compassion to our people's souls, we would up,
and be doing, though we could but lay a brick a day, and God
would be with us. May be you who find a people rude and sot- .
tishly ignorant, like stones in the quarry, and trees unfelled, shall
not bring the work to such perfection in your days as you desire ;
yet, as David did for Solomon, thou mayest, by thy pains in
teaching and instructing them, prepare materials for another, whrt^
shall rear the temple. It is very ordinary for one minister to'
enter into the labours of another, to reap those by a work of con-
version, in whom a former minister had cast the seed of know-
ledge and convictioii : And when God comes to reckon with his
workmen, the ploughman and sower shall have his penny, as well
as the harvest.man and reaper. O, it is a blessed thing to bfc
(as Job saith he was) eyes to the blind, much more to blind souls ;
such are the ministers. God himself calls pastors after his own
hearty that feed his people with knotvledge and widerstandingf
Jer. iii. 15. But woe to those that are accessary to their people's
ignorance ! Now a minister may be accessary to the ignorance
of his people,

First,

190 Against the itulers of the

Firsts By his own ignorance. Knowledge is so fundamental
to the work and calling of a minister, that he cannot be one with-
out it : Because thou hast rejected knowledge^ I will also reject
thee^ that thou shall be no priest to me ; seeing thou hast for-
gotten the lato of thy God^ I will also forget thy children^ Hos,
iv. 6. The want of knowledge in a minister is such a de-
fect, as cannot be supplied by any thing else, be he never so
meek, patient, bountiful, unblameable ; if he hath not skill to di-
vide the word aright, he is not cut out for a minister. Every
thing is good, as it is good for the end it is appointed to ; a knife,
though it had a haft of diamonds, yet if it will not cut, 'tis no
knife. A bell, if it will not sound, is no bell. The great work
of a minister is to teach others, his lips are to preserve know-
ledge, he should be as conversant in the things of God as others
in their particular trades. Ministers are called lights ; if the
light then be darkness, how great is the darkness of that people
like to be ? I know these stars in Christ's hands are not all of
the same magnitude ; there is a greater glory of gifts and graces
shines in some than others ; yet so much light is necessary to
every minister as was in the star the wise men saw at Christ's
birth, to be able, out of the word, to direct sinners the safe and
trye way to Christ and salvation. O, sirs, it is a sad way of
getting a living by killing of men, as some unskilful physicians
do ; but much more to get a temporal livelihood by ruining souls
through our ignorance. He is a cruel man to the poor passen-
gers, who will undertake to be pilot, when he never so much as
learnt his compass.

Secondly, By his negligence,. It is all one if the nurse hath
no milk in her breasts, or having, draws it not forth to her child.
There is a woe to the idol-shepherd, Zech. 11. such as have
mouths, but speak not ; lips, but not to feed the people with
knowledge, it shall be the people's sin, if they feed not when
bread is before them ; but woe to us, if we give them not meat in
due season ! O, sirs, what shall. we say to our Lord that trusts
us, if those abilities which he hath given us, as market-money to
buy bread for our people, be found wrapped up in a napkin of
sloth? if that time wherein we should have been teaching and
instructing them, shall appear to be wasted in our pleasures, or
employed about our carnal profits. That servant shall have but
a sad welcome of his master when he comes home, that shall be
found Mj' of the wav with the key, and the family starving in the
mean time for want of provision.
>> Thirdly By his unedifying preaching, when he preached un-
sound doctrine, which doth not perfect the understanding, but
corrupt it. Better he did leave them in simple ignorance, than
colour their minds with a false dye, or when what he preacheth

is

Darkness of this World. 191

IS frothy and flashy, no more fit to feed their souls, than husks
for the prodigal's belly, which when they know, they are little
the wiser for their soul's good. Or when his discourses are so
hi.arh flown, that the poor people stand gazing, as those who have
lost the sight of their preacher, and at the end of the sermon can-
not tell what he would have. Or those who preach only truths
that are for the higher forms of professors, who have their senses
well exercised ; excellent may be for the building up three or four
saints in the congregation ; but irf the mean time, the weak ones
in the family (who should indeed chiefly be thought on, because
least able to guide themselves or carve for themselves), these arc
forgotten. He sure is an unwise builder, that makes a scaffold
as high as Paul's steeple, when his work i** at the bottom, and he
is to lay the foundation, whereas the scaffold should rise as the
buildiug goes up. So Paul advanceth in his doctrine, as hid
hearers do in knowledge, Heb. vi. 1. Therefore leaving the
principles of the doctrine of Christy let us go on itnto perfection.
Let us. It is well indeed when the people can keep pace with
the preacher. To preach truths and notions above the hearer's
capacity, is like a nurse, that should go to feed a child with a
spoon too big to go into its mouth. We may by such preaching
please ourselves, or some of higher attainments, but what shall
poor ignorant ones do in the mean time? He is the faithful
steward that considers both. I'he preacher is (as Paul saith of
himself) a debtor both to the Greek and to the Barbarian, to the
wise and to the unwise., Rom. i. 14. to prepare truths suitable to
the degree of his hearers. Let the wise have their portion, but
let them be patient to see the weaker in the family served also.

Fourthly,'^ minister may be accessary to the ignorance of his
people, when through the scandal of his life he prejudiceth his
doctrine ; as a cook, who, by his nastiness, makes others afraid
to eat what comes out of his foul fingers ; or when, through his
supercilious carriage, his poor people dare not come to him. He
that will do any good in the minister's calling, must be as careful
as the fisher, that he do nothing to scare souls away from him,
but all to allure and invite, that they may be tolled within the
compass of his net.

JJse 3, Is the ignorant soul such a slave to satan ? Let this
stir you up that are ignorant, from your seats of sloth, whereon,
like the blind Egyptians, you sit in darkness ; speedily come out
of this darkness, and resolve not to go down to utter darkness. —
The covering of Haman's face did tell him, that he should not
stay in the king's presence. If thou livest in ignorance, it shews
thou art in God's black bill ; he puts this cover before their eyes
in wrath, whom he means to turn oflf into hell, 2 Cor. iv. Jfoiir
^ospel be hid ^ it is to those that perish. In one place sinners

are

192 Against the Bulersofthe

ttre threatened, they shall die without knowledge. Job xxxvi. In
another place, they shall die in their sins^ John viii. He in- .
deed that dies without knowledge, dies in his sins : and what
more fearful doom can the great God pass upon a creature than
this ? Better die in a prison, die in a ditch, than die in our sins.
If thou die in thy sins, thou shalt rise in thy sins : as thou fallest
asleep in the dust, so thou awakest in the morning of the resur-
rection ; if an ignorant Christless wretch, as such thou shalt be
arraigned and judged. That God whom now sinners bid depart
from them, will then be worth their acquaintance (themselves
being judges) ; but>alas ! then he will throw their own words in
their teeth, and bid them depart from him, he desires not the
knowledge of them. O sinners, you shall see at last, God can
better be without your company in heaven, than you could with-
out his knowledge on earth : yet, yet 'tis day, draw your cur-*
tains, and behold Christ shining upon your face with gospel-light;
hear wisdom crying in the streets, and Christ piping under your
window in the voice of his spirit and messengers, How long will
ye simple ones love simplicity^ and fools hate knowledge 9 Turn
you at my reproof; behold^ I will pour out my spirit uponyou^
and make known my words unto you. Pro v. i. 21, 22, 23. What
can you say, sinners, for your sottish ignorance ? Where is
your cloak for this sin ? The time hath been when the word of
the Lord was precious, and there was no open vision, not a Bible
to be found in town or country ; when the tree of knowledge was
forbidden fruit, and none might taste thereof without licence from
the pope ; happy he that could get a leaf or two of the Testa-
ment into a corner, afraid to tell the wife of his bosom. O how
sweet were these waters, when they were forced to steal them ?
But you have the word, or may, in your houses ; you have those
that open them every Sabbath in their assemblies, many of you
at least have the offers of your ministers to take any pains with
you in private, passionately beseeching you to pity your souls,
and receive instruction : yea, 'tis the lamentation they generally
take up, you will not come unto them that you may receive light.
How long may a poor minister sit in his study, before any of the
ignorant sort will come upon such an errand ? Lawyers have
their clients, and physicians their patients : these are sought
after, and called up at midnight for counsel ; but alas ! the soul,
which is more worth than raiment and body too, that is neglected,
and the minister seldom thought on, till both these be sent away.
Perhaps when the physician has given them over for dead, then
we must come and close up those eyes with comfort, which were
" never opened to see Christ in his truth, or be counted cruel, be-
' cause we will not sprinkle them with this holy water, and anoint
them for the kingdom of heaven, though they know not a step of

the

Darkness of this World. 195

tlie way that leads to it. Ah, poor wretches ! what comfort
would you have us speak to those, to whom God speaks terror ?
Is heaven ours to give to whom we please ? or is it in our power
to alter the laws oi' the Most High, and save those whoni he con-
demns ? Do yoM not remember the curse that is to fall upon his
head, that tnnketh the blind to wander ottt of tht way ? Deut.
xxvii. 18. What curse then would be our portion, if we should
confirm such blind souls, that are quite out ot the way to heaven,
encouraging you to go on, and expect to reach heaven at last,
when God knows your feet stand in those paths that lead to eter-
nal death ? No, *tis written, we cannot, and God will not re-
verse it ; you may read your very names among those damned
souls which Christ comes in flaming fire to take vengeance on,
who the a|K)stle tells us are such, that know not God, and obey
not the gospel of our Lot^d Jesus Christy 2 Thess. i. 8, And
therefore, in the fear of God, let this provoke you, of what age
or sex, rank or condition soever in the world, to labour for the
saving knowledge of God in Christ, tphom to know is life eternal.
Are ye young? Inquire alter God betimes, while your parts arc
fresh, and memory strong, before the throng of worldly cares di-
vert you, or lusts of youth debauch you. The feet ot those lusts
which have buried millions of others in perdition, stand ready to
carry you the same way, if preventing grace come not and de-
liver you out of their hands, by seasoning your minds with the
knowledge of God. This morning's draught may prevent thy
being infected with the ill savours thou mayest receive from the
corrupt examples of others. Nay, how long thy stay may be in
the world thou know^st not, see whether thou canst not find
graves of thy length in the burial place ; and if thou should§t die
Ignorant of God and hi^ lavv, what would become of thee ? The
small brush, and the old logs, young sinners, and those that are
withered with age, meet and burn together. Or if thou shouldst
stay a while longer here, may be, because thou wilt not learn
now, God will teach thee then : or if thou shouldst in thy old
age get acquaintance with God, yet 'tis said to be *^owing thy
seed, when thou mightest be comforting thyself from thy old ac-
quaintance thou hast enjoyed with him. Are you old and igno-
rant f Alas, poor creature ! your life in the socket, and this
candle of the Lord not set up and lighted in your uuderstantiiiig !
your body bowing to the dust, and nature tolling the pas^irg bell,
as it were, and you (like one going in the dark) kitou not whe-
ther death will lead you or leave you. 'Tis like, the infirmities
of age make you wish your bones were even laid at rest in the
grave; but if you should die in this condition, your poor souls
would even wish they were here again with their old burdens oa
iheir backs ; aches and diseases of age are grievous, but damned

souls

194 Aguinst the Rulers of the

souls would thank God, if he would bless them with such a
heaven, as to lie in these pains, to escape the torments of the
other : O bethink you before you go hence ; the less time you
have, the more diligence you must use to gain knowledge ; we
need not be earnest (one would think) to bid the poor prisoner
learn his book, that cannot 'read, when he knows he shall be
hanged if he read not his neck- verse. 'Tis not indeed the bare
knowing the truths of the gospel, saves ; but the gross ignorance
of them to be sure will damn souls. Art you poor ^ It is not
poverty that is your sin or misery. Were you God's poor, rich
in knowledge and faith, you were happy, Eccles. iv. 13. Better
is a poor a/id wise child., than a foolish king^ who will no more be
admonished ; yea, so happy, that did the princes of the world
understand themselves aright, they would wish themselves in our
clothes, how ragged soever they are, rather than be in their owu
robes ; there are better making for you in heaven, which you
shall put on, when their's shall be pulled off to their shame : It
will not then trouble you that you were, while in the world, poor ;
but it will torment them that were so rich and great, and so poor
to God, and beggarly in their souls.

Are you rich ? Labour for the knowledge of the Most High.
Solomon had more ©f the world's treasure than a thousand of you
have, and yet we find him hard at prayer, tugging with God for
knowledge, 1 Chron. i. 10. All these outward enjoyments are
but vagince bonorum^ as afflictions are but vaginoB malortim. I
am afraid many men think themselves privileged by their worldly
greatness from this duty, as if God were bound to save them, be*
cause rich. Alas, sirs, there are not so many of you like to come
there. I must confess it would make one tremble to think what
a small number those among the great ones that shall be saved, are
summed up into. Not many great^ not many rich ; why so few
saved ? Because so few have saving knowledge. O the atheism,
the ignorance, the sottish barbarism that is to be found even in
those that the world applaud, and even worship because of their
lands and estates, who yet are not able to give an account of their
faith ? A poor leather-coat Christian will shame and catechize
a hundred of them. If heaven were to be purchased with house
and lands, then these would carry it away from the poor disciples
of Jesus Christ ; they have their hundreds and thousands lie by
them for a purchase alvvay's, but this money is not current in hea-
ven's exchange. This is life eternal, to know thee, and Jesus
Christj whom thou hast sent,

Quest. But how mjiy an ignorant soul attain to knowledge ?

Ans. First, Be deepiy affected with thy ignorance. Some are
blind, as Laodicea, and know it not, Rev. iii. 17. As ignorance
blinds the mind, so pride is a blind before their ignorance, that

tiey

Darkness of this World, 195

they know it not. These have such a high opinion of themselves,
that they take it ill any should suspect them as such ; these of all
men are most out of the way to knowledge, they are too good to
learn of man, as they think, and too bad to be taught of God.-^
The gate into Christ's school is low, and these cannot stoop: the
master himself is so humble and lowly, that he will not teach a
proud scholar. 'J'hereforc, first become a fool in thy own eye. —
A wiser man than thyself hath confessed much, Prov. xxx. 2, 3.
/ am move.brutish than any man^ and have not the understand"
ing of a man^ I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge
of the holy. When thou art come to thyself to own and blush at
the brutish ignorance of thy mind, thou art fit to be admitted into
Christ's school. If they be ashamed, then shew them the pattern
of the house, Ezek. xliii. 10.

Secondly, Be faithful with that little knowledge thou hast.
Art thou convinced this is a sin, and that is a duty ? Follow the
light close ; you know not what this tittle may grow to ; we use
to set up our children with a little stock at first, and as they use
it, so we add. The kingdom of God comes of small beginnings.
God complains of Israel, they were brutish in their knowledge,
Jer. X. 14. He doth not say brutish in their ignorance ; had
they sinned because they did not know better, this would have
excused a tanto, but they did that which was brutish and un-
reasonable, as their worshipping graven images, notwithstanding
they knew to the contrary. That man shall not excel in know*
ledge who prostitutes it to sin. Job xxxvi. 12. If they obey not,
they shall perish by the sword, a>nd shall die without knowledge,
A candle pent up close in a dark lanthorn, wastes awav apace :
and so doth light shut up in the conscience, and not suffered to
come forth in the conversation. Those heathens that are charged
for holding the truth in unrighteousness, Kom. i. 18. the next
news you hear of them is, that they became vain in their imagi-
nations, and their foolish heart was darkened, ver. 21 .

Thirdly, Ply the throne of grace. Bene orasse est bene
studuisse ; he is the best student in divinity that studies most
upon his knees. Knowledge is a divine gift; all light is from
heaven. God is the father of light, and prayer puts the soul un-
der the pupilage of God. If any one lack wisdom, let him ask it
of God, This is more than naked knowledge, wisdom how to
use it. Study may make one a great scholar in the scriptures, ;
but prayer makes a wise Christian, as it obtains sanctified know-
ledge, without which it is no perfect gift, but doron adoron, a
gift and no gift. Pray then with an humble boldness, God gives
it to all that ask, and that candidly and liberally ; not like proud
man, who will rather put one to shame who is weak, for his ig-
norance, that) take the pains to teach him. Thy petition is very

N pleasing

196 Against the Rulers of the

pleasing to God. Remember how Solomon sped upon the like
occasion, and promise thyself the same success. Christ's school
is a free school ; he denies none that come to him, so they will
submit to the orders of the school ; and though all have not an
answer in the same degree of knowledge (it is not needful that all
should be Solomons in knowledge, except all were to be Solo-
mons in place,) yet the meanest disciple that Christ sends forth
shall be furnished with saving knowledge, enough to fit him for
his admittance into heaven's academy. Thou shalt guide me
with thy counsel, and after bring me to glory.

Fourthly, Thou must bestow some time for thy diligent search
after truth. Truth lies deep, and must be digged for. Since
man was turned out of Paradise, he can do nothing w^ithout la-
bour, except sin (this follows his hand indeed) j but this treasure
of knowledge calls for spade and mattock. We are bid search
the scriptures^ and, Dan. xii. 4. Many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall he increased ; a metaphor of merchants, who
bestir themselves to get an estate, run to and fro, first in one
land, then in another ; wherever they hear of any thing to be got^
thither they post, though to the ends of the earth ; thus must
the soul run from one duty to another, one while read, and anon
meditate of what he hath read, then pray over his meditations,
and ask counsel after all. What is the meaning of this, and how
understand you that? Non schola Epicura facit magnos viros^
sed contubernimn. There is more light got sometimes by a short
conference with a preacher, than by his whole sermon. Be sure
thou compass all the means for knowledge within the walk of
thy endeavour. In this thy search for knowledge, observe three
things.

First, The end thou proposest, that it be pure and holy, not
merely to know, as some do, who labour for knowledge, as many
it)r estates, and when they have got it, look on their notions, as
they on their bags of money, but have not a heart to use their
knowledge for their own or others good ; this is a sore evil. —
Speculative knowledge, like Rachel, is fair, but barren. Not to
be known and admired by others for thy stature in knowledge
above thy brethren, verily it is too base an end to aim at in
seeking knowledge, especially such as is the knowledge of God
and Christ. To see a heathen study for knowledge in philosophy,
and then carry all his labour to this market, and think himself re-
warded with obtaining the name of a wise man, is, though base,
yet more tolerable : but for one that knows God, and what it is
to enjoy him ; for such a one to content himself with a blast or two
of sorry man's vain breath, this is folly with a witness : look thou
fliest higher in the end than so. Labour for knowledge, that thou
maycst fear Godj whom thou knowest ; thus David, Psal. cxix.

33.

Darkness of this World, 1 &?

33. Teach me, O Lord^ the waif of thy statutes, and I shnll
keep it unto the end. The word of Cod is called a light nnto
our feet, not to our tongues merely to talk of, but feet to walk
by ; endeavour for it, not that thou mayest spread thy own name,
but celebrate God. As David promiseth, when he understands
the pr^ecepts of God, then he viiW talk of his wondrous works,
he ^Vill trumpet the fame of them, and thereby awaken others to
inquire after God.

Secondly, When thy end is nght set, then thou must be con-
stant in thy endeavour after it. The mysteries of Christ are not
learned in a day. Then shall we knotv, if we follow on to know
the Lord, Hos. vi. 3. Some are in a good mood (may be), and
they will look into the Bible, and read a chapter or two, and
away they go for a week, and never practise it more ; like some
young boys, if at school one day, truant all the week after : is it
dny wonder such thrive not in knowledge ? It is a good speech
of Bernard, Tantum distat studiiim a lecltone, quantum amicitia
ab hospitio, socialis affectio a fortuita salutatione. The study
of the word, and the reading of it, differs as much, as the friend-
ship of such who every day converse lovingly together, doth from
the acquaintance one hath with a stranger at an inn, or whom he
salutes as he passeth by in the streets. If you will get knowledge
indeed, you must not only salute the word now and then, but
walk with it, and enter into daily converse with it. The three
men (who were indeed angels) that stood by Abraham, as he sat
at his tent-door, were reserved, and strange, till Abraham invited
them into his tent, and entertained them friendly; and then Christ,
who was one among them (as appears by the name Jehovah given
him in several verses, and also by what he promised he would do
for Sarah, ver. 10. not what God would do, which, if a created
angel, he would), begins to discover himself to x4braham,and reveal
his secrets to him. That soul above others shall be acquainted with
the secrets of God in his word, that doth not slightly read the
word, and, as it were, compliment with it at his tent-door, but
desires more intimacy with it, and therefore entertains it within
his soul by frequent meditating on it. David compares the word
for sweetness to the honey and the honey-comb. Indeed it is so
full, tl^t at first reading some sweetness will now and then drop
from it ; but he that doth not press it by meditation, leaves the.
most behind.

Thirdly, Be sure thou takest the right order and method. Arts
and sciences have their rudiments, and also their more abstruse
and deep notions ; and sure the right end to begin at, is first to
learn the principles : he (we say) is not like to make a good
scholar in the University, that never was a good grammar-scholar.
And they cannot be Solid Christians, that are not instructed in

N 2 the

198 Against the Bulers of the

the grounds of Christianity, The want of this is the cause why
many are so unstedfast : first of this way, and then of that, blown
like glasses into any shape, as false teachers please to breathe. —
Alas, they have no centre to draw their lines from. Think it no
disgrace, you who have run into error, and lost yourselves in the
labyrinths of deep points (which now are the great discourse of
the weakest professors), to be set back to learn the first prin-
ciples of the oracles of God better ; too many are, as TertuUian
saith in another case, pudoris magis memores quam salutis, more
tender of their reputation than their salvation, who are more
ashamed to be thought ignorant, than careful to have it cured.

Fifthly, If thou w^ouldst attain to divine knowledge, wait on
the ministry of the word. As for those who neglect this, and
come not where the word is preached, they do like one that
should turn his back on the sun, that he may see it ; if thou
wouldst know God, come where he hath appointed thee to
learn. Indeed, where the means is not, God hath extraordinary
ways : as a father, if no school in town, will teach his child at
home ; but if there be a public school, thither he sends him. —
God maketh manifest (saith Paul) the savour of his knowledge
hxj us in every place, 2 Cor. ii. 14. Let men talk of the spirit
what they please ; he will at last be found a quencher of the spi-
rit, that is a despiser of prophecy : they both stand close toge-
ther, 1 Thess. V. 19, 20. Quench not the spirit^ Despise not
piophecying. But it is not enough to sit under the means ; woe-
ful experience teacheth us this ; there are some no sun will tan ;
they keep their own complexion under the most shining and burn-
ing light of the word preached, as ignorant and prophane as
those that never saw gospel-day ; and therefore, if thou wilt re-
ceive any spiritual advantage by the word, take heed how thou
hearest.

First, Look thou beest a wakeful hearer. Is it any wonder he
should go away from the sermon no wiser than he came, that
sleeps the greatest part of it away, or hears between sleeping or
waking? It must be in a dream sure, if God reveals any thing
of his mind to him. So indeed God did to the fathers of old ;
but it was not as they prophanely slept under an ordinance. O
take heed of such irreverence. He that composeth himself to
sleep (as some do) at such a time, or he that is not humbled for
it, and that deeply, both of them betray a base and low esteem
they have of the ordinance. Surely thou thinkest but meanly of
what is delivered, if it will not keep thee awake ; yea, of God
himself, whose message it is. See how thou art reproved by the
awful carriage of a heathen, and that a king : Ehud did but say
to Eglon, 1 have a message from God unto thee, and he arose
out of his seat^ J\xdg, iii. 20. And thou clappest down on thy

scat

Darlcness of this World, 199

to sleep : O how darest thou put such an affront upon the great
God ? How oft do you fall asleep at dinner, or telling your
money ? And is not the word of God worth more than these ?
I should wonder if such sermon-sleepers do dream of any thing
but hell-fire. 'Tis dangerous you know to fall asleep with a
candle burning by our side ; some have been so burnt in their
beds : but more dangerous to sleep while the candle of the word
is shining so near us. What if you should sink down dead like
Eutychus ? here is no Paul to raise you, as he had ; and that you
shall not, where is your security ?

Secondly, Thou must be an attentive hearer. He that is
awake, but wanders with his eye or heart, what doth he but sleep
with his eyes open ? It were as good the servant should be
asleep in his bed, as when up not to mind his master's business.
When God intends a soul good by the word, he draws such a one
to listen and hearken heedfuUy to what is delivered ; as we see
in Lydia, who ('tis said) attended mito the things which were
spoken of Paul, And those, Luke xix. 48. The people were at'
t^ntive to hear him. They did hang on him, as you shall see
bees on some sweet flower, or as young birds on the bills of their
dams as they feed them ; that is the soul which shall get light and
life by the word. Hear^ ye children, and attend to know un~
derstanding^ Prov. iv. 1. Labour therefore in hearing the word
to fix thy quicksilver mind, and set thyself to hear, as 'tis said
Jehosaphat did to pray, and that thou mayest, before thou goest,
get thy heart into some deep sense of thy spiritual wants, especially
of thy ignorance of the things of God, and thy deplored condition
by reason of it ; till the heart be touched, the mind will not be
fixed. Therefore you may observe, 'tis said, God opened the
heart of Lydia, that she attended^ Acts xvi. 14. The mind
goes of the will's errand ; we spend our thoughts upon what our
hearts propose. If the heart hath no sense of its ignorance, or no
desires after God, no wonder such a one listens not to what the
preacher saith ; his heart sends his mind another way. They sit
before thee as my people (saitli God), but their heart goeth after
their covetousness. They do not come out of such an intent or
desire to hear any good to their souls, then they would apply
themselves wholly to the work ; no, it is their covetousness hath
their hearts ; and therefore, as some idle servant, when he hath
waited on his master, brought him to his pew, then he goes out
to his good-fellows at the ale-house, and comes no more till ser-
mon be almost done ; so do the thoughts of most when they go
to the ordinance, they slip out in the street, market, or shop, you
may find them any where but about the duty before them, and
all because these have their hearts more than God and his word.

Thirdly, Thou must be a retentive hearer; without tfiis,thfe

N 3 work

200 Agmnst the JRulers^ S^c,

work will ever be to begin again. Truths to a forgetful hearer
are as a seal set on water, the impression lasts no longer than the
seal is on ; the sermon once done, and all is undone ; be therefore
very careful to fasten what thou hearest qq thy memory ; which
that thou may est do,

JPirst, Receive the truth ia the love of it. An affectionate
i^ear^r will not be a forgetful hearer. Love helps the memory ;
Can a ivo7nan forget her child, or a maid her ornaments, or a
bride her attire 9 No, they love them too well : were the truths
of God thus precious to thee, thou wouldst, with David, think
of them day and night. Even when the Christian, through weak-
ness of memory, cannot remember the very words he hears, to re-
peat them ; yea, then he keeps the power and sav/)ur of them in
his spii'it, as whep sugar is dissolved in wine, you cannot see it,
but you may taste it ; when meat is eaten and digested, it is not
to be found as it was received, l^jt the man is cheered and
strengthened by it, more able to walk and work than before, by
which you may kuow it is not lost : so you may taste the truths
the Christian heard, in his spirit, apd see them in his life. Per-
haps if you ask him what the particulars were the minister had
about faith, mortification, repentance, and the like, he cannot tell
you ; yet this you may find, his heart is more broken for sin,
more enabled to rely ou the promise?, and now weaned from the
world. As that good woman answered one, that, coming from
sermon, asked her what she remembered of the sermon ? said.
She could not at present recal much, but she heard that which
should make her reform some things as soon as she came home.

Secondly, Meditate on what thou hearest ; by this David got
more wisdom than his teachers. Observe what truth, what
scripture is cleared to thee in the sermon more than before, take
sometime in secret to converse with it, and make it thereby fami-
liar to thy understanding. Meditation to the sermon, is what
the harrow is to the seed ; it covers those truths which else might
have been picked or washed away. I am afraid there are many
proofs turned down at a sermon, that are hardly turned up, and
looked on any more, when the sermon is done ; and if so, you
make others believe you are greater traders for your souls than
you are indeed ; as if one should come to a shop and lay by a
great deal of rich ware, and when he hath done, goes away, and
never calls for it, O take heed of such doings. The hypocrite
cheats himself worst at last.

Thirdly, Discharge thy memory of what is sinful. We wipe
our table-book, ^nd deface what is there scribbled, before we can
write anew. There is such a contrariety betwixt the truths of
God and all that is frothy and sinful, that one puts out the other ;
if you would retain the one, you must let the other go.

CHAP.

Against Spiritual Wickedness* ' 201

CHAP. YL,

O/ihe Spintualiftf of the DeviVs "Nature^ and their extreme
', Wickedness.

'"pHESE words are the fourth branch in the description, Spi-
^ ritual wickednesses ; and our contest or combat with them
as such, is expressed by the adversitive particle against : Against
the spirituals of wickedness, which is, as say some, against wicked
spirits ; that is true, but not all. I conceive, with many inter-
preter, not only the spiritual nature ot* the devil, and the wicked-
ness thereof to be intended, but also, yea chiefly, the nature and
kind of those sins, which these wicked spirits do most usually and
vigorously provoke the saints unto, ana they are the spirituals
of wickedness, not those gross fleshly sins, which the herd of
beastly sinners (like swine) wallow in, but sins spiritualized, and
this, because it is not pneumata, but pneumatica, not spirits, but
sipirituals. The words present us with these three doctrinal con-
clusions.

First, The devils are spirits.

Secondly, The devils are spirits extremely wicked.

Thirdly, These wicked spirits do chiefly annoy the saints
with, and provoke them to spiritual wickednesses. First, of
the first.

First, They are spirits. Spirit is a word of various accepta-
tion in scripture ; amongst others, used often to set forth the es-
sence and nature of angels, good and evil, both which are called
spirits. The holy angels, Heb. i. 14. Are thei/ not all minister-
ing spirits 9 The evil. There came forth a spirit and stood be-
fore the Lord^ and said^ I mil persuade him, 1 Kings xxii. 21.,
that spirit was a devil. How oft is the devil called the unclean
spirit, foul spirit, lying spirit, &:c. Sin did not alter their sub-
stance J for then, as one saith well, that nature and substance
which transgressed conld not be punished.-* i^^^^

First, The devil is a^ spirit, that is, his essence is immaterial
and simple, not compounded (as corporeal beings are) of matter
and form : Handle and see me (saith Christ to his disciples that
thought they had seen a spirit) ; a spirit hath not Jtesh and
bones, as ye see me have, Luke xxiv. 39. If they were not thus
immaterial, how could they enter into bodies and possess them,
as the scripture tells us they have, even a legion into one man ?
Luke viii. 30. One body cannot thus enter into another.

Secondly, The devils are spiritual substances, not qualities or
evil motions arising frem us, as some have absurdly conceived. —

N 4 So

202 ' Against Spiritunl Wickedness.

So the Sadducees, and others following tliem, deny any such
being as angel, good or evil ; but this is so fond a conceit, that
we must both forfeit our reason, and deny the scriptures, to main-
tain it, where we find their creation related. Col. i. 18. the fall of
some from their first estate, Jude vi. and the standing of others
called the elect angels : The happiness of the one, who behold
God's face ; and their employment, are sent out to attend on the
saints, as servants on their master's heirs, Heb. i. 'J^he misery
of the other, reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgment of
the great day j and their present work, which is to do mischief
to the souls aud bodies of men, as far as they are permitted ; all
which shew their substance plain enough. But so immersed is
sorry man in flesh, that he will not easily believe what he sees not
with his fleshly eyes ; upon the same account we may deny the
being of God himself, because invisible.

Thirdly, They are entire spiritual substances, which have
every one proper existence : and thus they are distinguished from
the souls of men, which are made to subsist in a human body ;
aud together with it to make one perfect man, so that the soul,
though when separated from the body, doth exist, yet hath a ten-
dency to union with its body again.

Fourthly, They are, though entire spiritual substances, yet
ifinite, being but creatures, God only is the uncreated, infinite,
aud absolutely simple spirit, yea. Father of all other spirits.

Now from this spiritual nature of the devil, we may further
see what a dreadful enemy we have to grapple with.

First, As spirits, they are of vast intellectual abilities. Sorry
man, while in this dark prison of the body, hath not light enough
to know what angelical perfections are ; that they excel in know-
ledge all other creatures we know, because as spirits they come
nearest by creation to the nature of God that made them ; the
Jheayens are not lilted higher from the earth, than angels by
knowledge from man, while on earth. Man by art hath learnt
to take the height of the stars of heaven, but where is he that
can tell how far in knowledge angels exceed man ? 'Tis true,
they have lost much of that knowledge they had, even all their
knowledge as holy angels ; what now they know of God hath
lost its savour, and they have no power to use it for their own
good. What Jude saith of wricked men, may be said of them,
What iheif know naturally^ in these things they corrupt them-
selves. They know the holiness of God, but love him not for it,
as the elect angels do, and themselves by creation did. They
Is^now the evil of sin, and love it not the less j but though they
are such fools for themselves, yet have subtilty too much for all
the saints ou earth, if we had not a God to play our game for us.

feecondly.

Jgaifist Spinttial Wickedness. 2^,03

Secondly, As spirits, they are invisible, and their approaches
also. They come, and you see not your enemy. Indeed this
makes him so little feared by the ignorant world, whereas it is
his greatest advantage, if rightly weighed. O if men have an
apparition of the devil, or hear a noise in the night, they cry.
The devil, the devil, and are ready to run out of their wits for
fear ; but they carry him in their hearts, and walk all the day
long in his company, and fear him not. When thy proud heart
is clambering up to the pinnacle of honour in thy ambitious
thoughts, who sets thee there but the devil ? When thy adulter-
ous heart is big with all manner of uucleanness and filthiness, who
but satan hath been there, begetting these brats on thy whorish
spirit ? When thou art raging in thy passion, throwing burning
coals of wrath and fury about with thy inflamed tongue, where
was it set on fire but in hell ? When thou art hurried like the
swine down the precipice, and even choked with thy own drunken
vomit, who but the devil rides thee ?

Thirdly, As spirits, they are immortal. Of other enemies you
may hear news at last that they are dead which sought thy life,
as the angel told Joseph of Herod. Persecuting men walk a turn
or two upon the stage, and are called off by death, and there is an
end of all their plots ; but devils die not : they will hunt thee to
thy grave, and when thou diest they will njeet thee in another
world, to accuse and torment thee there also,
.r, Fourthly, They are unwearied in their motions. When the
fight is over amongst men, the conqueror must sit down and
breathe, and so loseth the chace, because not able to pursue it in
time. Yea, some have given over their empires, as glutted with
the blood of men, and weary of the work, when they cannot
hav« their will as they desired. Thus Dioclesian, because he
saw he did but mow a meadow that grew the thicker for cutting
down (as Tertullian speaks of the Christians martyred), he throws
away his sceptre in a pet. Charles the Fifth did the like (some
say) upon the same reason, because he could not root out the
Xiutherans. But the devil's spirit is never cowed, nor he weary
of doing mischief, though he liath never stood still since first 4^e
began his walk to and fro in the world. O what would become
of us, if a God were not at our back, who is infinitely more the
devil's odds than he ours.

SECT. II. — Secondly, They are wicked spirits ; wicked iu
the abstract, as iu the text, and called by way of eminency in
sin. The wicked one^ Matt. xiii. 19. As God is called the Holy
One, because none holy as the Lord, so the devil the wicked one,
because he is a non-such in sin. In a few particulars let us en-
deavour to take the height of the devil's sin, and the rather, that
we may judge of the degrees of sins and sinners among the sons of

men ;

204 Against Spiritual Wickedness.

men : the nearer God in holiness, the more holy ; the liker the
devil, the more wicked.

First, These apostate angels are inventors of sin ; the first that
sounded the trumpet of rebellion against their maker, and led the
dance to all that sin which since hath filled the world. Now
what tongue can accent this sin to its full ? For such a noble
creature whom God hath set on the top, as it were, of all the crea-
tion, nearest to himself, from whom God hath kept nothing but
his own royal diadem ; for this peer and favourite of the court,
without any cause or solicitation from any other, to make this
bold and blasphemous attempt to snatch at God*s own crown, this
paints the devil blacker than the thoughts of men and angels can
conceive. He is called the father of Ites^ as those who have
found out any art are called the father of it. Jubal the father of
all such as handle the harp and organ ; he invented music. And
this is a dreadful aggravation, because they sinned without a
tempter. And though man is not in such a degree capable of
this aggravation, yet some men sin after the very similitude of the
deviPs transgression in this respect, who, as St Paul, Rom. i. 30.
styles them, are inventors of evil things. Indeed sin is an old
trade, found out to our hand ; but, as in other trades and arts,
some famous men arise, who add to the inventions of others, and
make trades and arts (as it were) new, so there are some infamous
in their generation, that make old sins new, by superadding to the
wickedness of others. Uncleanness is an old sin from the begin-
ning, but the 8odomites will be filthy in a new way ; and therefore
it carries their name to this day. Some invent new errors, others
new oaths, such as are of their own coining, hot out of the mint ;
^hey scorn to swear after the old fashion ; others, new devices of
persecutjng, as Julian had a way by himself, different from all
before him ; and to the end of the world every age will exceed
others in the degrees of sinning. Ishmael and the mockers of the
old world, were but children and bunglers to the scoffers and cruel
mockers of the last time. Well, take heed of shewing thy wit
in inventing new sins, lest thou stir up God to invent new punish-
ments. Is not destruction to the wicked, and a strange punish-
ment to the workers of iniquity^ Job xxxi. 3. Sodom sinned
after a new mode, and God destroys them after a new way, sends
hell from above upon them. Some have invented new opinions,
monstrous errors, and God hath suited their monstrous errors
with births as monstrous of their own body.

Secondl}^ They were not only the inventors of sin, but are still
the chief tempters to, and promoters of, sin in the world, therefore
called Pier axon, the tempter ; and sin called the work of the
devil, whoever commits it ; as the house goes by the name of the
master-workman, though he useth his servants' hands to build it.

O

Against Spiriiual Wickedness, 205

O take heed of soliciting others to sin ; thou takest the devil's
office (as I may say) out of his hand ; let him do it himself, if
he will, make not thyself so like him. To tempt another, is
worse than to sin thyself. It speaks sin to be of great growth in
that man that doth it knowingly and willingly. Herbs and
flowers shed not their seed till ripe, creatures propagate not till
of stature and age. What do those that tempt ottos, but diffuse
their wicked opinions and practices, as it were, raise up seed to
the devil, thereby to keep up the name of their infernal father in
the world ? This shews sin is mighty with them indeed. Many
a man, though so cruel to his own soul as to be drunk or swear,
yet will not like this in a child or servant ; what are they then
but devils incarnate, who teach their children the devil's catf-
chism, to swear a«d lie, drink and whore? If you meet such,
be not afraid to call them (as Paul did Elynias, when he would
have perverted the deputy) children of the devil, full of all subtilty
and mischief, and enemies of all righteousness. O do you not
know what you do, when you tempt ? I will tell you ; you da
that which you cannot undo by your own repentance ; thou
poisonest one with error, initiatest another into the devil's school
(ale-house I mean) ; but afterwards, may be, thou seest thy mis-
take, and recantest thy error, thy folly, and givest over i\\y
drunken trade : art thou sure now to rectifj^ and convert them
with thyself? Alas, poor creatures ! this is out of thy power I
They, may be, will say, as he, (though he did it upon a better
account,) that was solicited to turn back to popery, by him who
had before persuaded him to renounce the same. You have given
me one turn^ but shall not give me another. And what a grief
to thy spirit will it be, to see these going to hell on thy errand,
and thou not able to call them back ? I'hou mayest cry out, as
Lamech, I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man
to my hurt. Nay, when thou art asleep in thy grave, he whom
thou seducest may have drawn in others, and thy name may be
quoted to commend the opinion and practice to others ; by which
(as it is said, though in another sense, Abel being dead^ yet
speaksi,) thou mayest, though dead, sin in those that are alive^
generation after generation. A little spark, kindled by the error
of one, hath cost the pains of many ages to quench it ; and whea
thought to be out, hath broke forth again.

Thirdly, They are not barely wicked, but maliciously wicked.
The devil's name denoteth his spiteful nature, his desire to vex
and mischieve others. When he draws souls to sin, it is not be-
cause he tastes any sweetness, or finds any profit therein ; he
hath too much light to have any joy or peace in sin ; he knows
his doom, and trembles at the thought of it, and 3'et his spiteful
nature makes him vehemently desire, aad incessantly endeavour

the

206 Against Spiritual Wickedness.

the damnation of souls. As you shall see a mad dog run after a
flock of sheep, kill one, then another, and when dead, not able to
eat of their flesh, but kills to kill : so satan is carried out with a
boundless rage against man, especially against the saints ; he
would not, if he could, leave one of Christ's flock alive ; such is
the height of his malice against God, whom he hates with a per-
fect hatred, and because he cannot reach him with a direct blow,
therefore he strikes him at second hand through his saints ; that
wicked arm which reacheth not to God, is extended against these
excellent on the earth, well knowing the life of God is in a man-
ner bound up in theirs. God cannot outlive his honour, and his
honour speeds as his mercy is exalted or depressed ; this being the
attribute God means to honour in their salvation so highly, and
therefore maligned above the rest by satan. And this is the worst
that can be said of these wicked spirits, that they maliciously
spite God, and in God the glory of his mercy.

Use 1. First, This may help us to conceive more fully what
the desperate wickedness of man's nature is, which is so hard to
be known, because it can never be seen at once, it being a foun-
tain whose immensity consists not in the stream of actual sin (that
is visible, and may seem little), but in the spring that incessantly
feeds this ; but here is a glass that will give us the shape of our
hearts truly like themselves. Seest thou the monstrous pitch and
height of wickedness that is in the devil ? All this there is in the
heart of every man ; there is no less wickedness potentially in
the tamest sinner on earth, than in the devils themselves ; and
that one day thou, whoever thou art, wilt shew to purpose, if
God prevent thee not by his renewing grace ; thou art not yet
fledged, thy wings are not grown to make thee a flying dragon,
but thou art of the same brood, the seed of this serpent is in thee,
and the devil begets a child like himself ; thou yet standest in a
soil not so proper for the ripening of sin, which will not come to
its fulness till transplanted into hell. Thou art here so maidenly
and modest, as to blush at some sins out of shame, and forbear the
acting of others out of fear ; when there, thou shalt see thy case
as desperate as the devil doth his, then thou wilt spit out thy
blasphemies, with which thy nature is stuflPed, with the same ma-
lice that he doth. The Indians have a conceit, that, when they
die, they shall be transformed into the deformed likeness of the
devil ? therefore, in their language they have the same word for
a dead man and the devil : sin makes the wicked like him before
they come there ;. but indeed they will come to their countenance
more fully there, when those flames shall wash oflfthat paint which
here hides their complexion. The saints in heaven shall be like
the angels in their alacrity, love, and constancy to serve God, and
the damned like the devils in sin as well as punishment. This one

consideration

Against Spiritual Wickedness, 207

cousideration might be of excellent use to unbottom a sinner, and
abase him, so as never to have high thoughts of himself. It is
easy to run down a person whose life is wicked, and convince
him of the evil of his actions, and make him confess what he doth
is evil ; but here is the thicket we lose him in : he will say, 'Tis
true, I am overseen, I do what I should not, God forgive me ;
but my heart is good. Thy heart good, sinner ! and so is the
devil's ; his nature is wicked, and thine as bad as his. These
pimples in thy face shew the heat of thy corrupt nature within ;
and without gospel-physic, the blood of Christ applied to thee,
thou wilt die a leper ; none but Christ can give thee a new heart,
till which, thou wilt every day grow worse and worse. Sin is an
hereditary disease, that increaseth with age. A young sinner
will be an old devil.

Use 2. Again, It would be of use to the saints, especially those
in whom God, by his timely call, forestalled the devil's market ;
as sometimes the spirit of God takes sin in its quarters before it
comes into the field, in the sins of youth : now such a one, find-
ing not those daring sins committed by him that others have been
left unto, may possibly not be affected so with his own sin, or
God's mercy. O let such a one behold here the wickedness of
his heart in this glass of the devil's nature, and he will see himself
as great a debtor to the mercy of God as Manasses, or the worst
of sinners, as in pardoning, so in preventing the same cursed na-
ture with theirs, before it gave fire on God with those bloody sins
they committed. That thou didst not act such outrageous sins,
thou art beholden to God's gracious interference, and not to the
goodness of thy nature, which hath the devil's stamp on it ; for
which God might have crushed thee, as we do the brood of ser-
pents before they sting, knowing what they will do in time. —
Who will say that Faux suffered unjustly, because the parliament
was not blown up ? It was enough that the materials for that
massacre were provided, and he taken there with match and fire
about him ready to lay the train ; and canst thou say when God
first took hold on thee, that thou hadst not those weapons of re-
bellion about thee, a nature fully charged with enmity against
God, which in time would have made its own repoVt of what for
the present lay, like unfired powder, silent in thy bosom ? O
Christian, think of this, and be humbled for thy villainous nature,
and say. Blessed be God, that sent his spirit and grace so timely
to stay thy hand (as Abigail to David), while thy nature medi-
tated nothing but war against God and his laws I

Again, Thirdly, Are the devils so wickedly malicious against
God himself? O sirs, take the right notion of sin, and you will
hate it. The reason why we are so easily persuaded to sin, is,
because we understand not the bottom of his design in drawing a

creature

308 Against Spiritual Wickedness.

creature to sin. It is with men in sinning, as it is with armies
in fighting : captains beat their drums for volunteers, and pro-
mise all that list pay and plunder, and this makes them come
trouling in ; but few consider what the ground of the war is,
against whom, or for what. Satan enticeth to sin, and gives
golden promises of what they shall have in his service, with which
silly souls are won ; but how few ask their souls, Whom do I sin
against ? What is the devil's design in drawing me to sin ? Shall
I tell thee ? Dost thou think 'tis thy pleasure or profit he de-
sires in thy sinning ? Alas I he means nothing less, he hath
greater plots in his head than so. He hath by his apostacy pro-
claimed war against God, and he brings thee by sinning to espouse
his quarrel, and to jeopard the life of thy soul in defence of his
pride and lust ; which that he may do, he cares no more for the
damnation of thy soul, than the Great Turk doth to see a com-
pany of his slaves cut off for the carrying on of his design in a
siege : and darest thou venture to go into the field upon his (Quar-
rel against God ? O earth, tremble thou at the presence of the
Lord. This bloody Joab sets thee where never any came off
alive. O stand not where God's bullets fly, throw down thy arms,
or thou art a dead man. Whatever others do, O ye saints, abhor
the thoughts of sinning willingly, which when you do, you help
the devil against God ; and what more unnatural, than for a child
to be seen in arras against his father ?

■%»%^V»^<%%<»%^%/%%^%«»^^^^%<V»*%^^^

CHAP. VII.

Of Satan's Plot to defile the Christian's Spirit with Heart-Sins,

The Second Point follows.

Doct. 2. T^HAT these wicked spirits do chiefly annoy the
^ saints with, and provoke them to spiritual sins.
Sins may be called spiritual upon a double account, either from
the subject wherein they are acted, or from the object about which
they are conversant.

First, In regard of the subject ; when the spirit or heart is the
stage whereon sin is acted, this is a spiritual sin ; such are, all
impure thoughts, vile affections, and desires ; though the object
be fleshly lust, yet are they spiritual sins, because they are purely
acts of the soul and spirit, and break not forth unto the outward
Hian.

Secondl}'^, In regard of the object, when that is spiritual, and
not carnal, such as are idolatry, error, spiritual pride, unbelief,
&c. both which Paul calls the filthiness of the spirit^ and distin-
guisheth them from filthiness of the Jlesh^ 2 Cor. vii. 1.

SECT.

Against Spitnlual Wickedness, 209

SECT. I. — First, of the first, sataa labours what he can to
provoke the Christian to heart-sins, to stir up and foment these
inward motions of sin in the Christian's bosom ; hence it is, he
can go about no duty but these his imps (as I may call them)
haunt him ; one motion or other darts in to interrupt him, as
Paul tells us of himself ; When he would do goody evil was pre-
sent with him : if a Christian should turn back whenever these
cross the wav of him, he should never go on his journey to heaven.
It is the chief game the devil hath left to play against the chil-
dren of God, now his held army is broken, and his commanding
power taken away which he had over them, to come out of these
his holds where he lies skulking, and fall upon the rear with these
suggestions. He knows his credit now is not so great with the
soul as when it was his slave ; then no drudgery work was so
base, that it would not do at his command ; but now the soul is
out of this bondage, and he must not think to command another's
servant as his own : no, all he can do is to watch the fittest sea-
son (when the Christian least suspects), and then to present some
sinful motion handsomely drest up to the eye of the soul_, that the
Christian may (before he is aware) take this brat up, and handle
it in his thoughts, till at last he makes it his own by embracing
it ; and this he knows will defile the soul : and may be this boy
sent in at the window may open the door to let in a greater thief;
or if he should not so prevail, yet the guilt of these heart-sins,
yea, their very neighbourhood, will be a sad vexation to a gra-
cious heart, whose nature is so pure that it abhors all filthiness
(so that to be haunted with such motions, is as if a living man
should be chained to a stinking carcase, thaty wherever he goes,
he must draw that after him), and whose love is so dear to Christ,
, that it cannot bear the company of those thoughts without amaze-
ment and horror, which are so contrary and abusive to his be-
loved. This makes satan so desirous to be ever raking in the
unregenerate part, that, as a dunghill stirred, it may ofiend them
both with the noisome streams which arise from it.

SECT. IL — Use \ . First, let this be for a trial of thy spi-
ritual state. What entertainment finds satan when he comes with
these spirituals of wickedness, and solicits thee to dwell on them ?
Canst thou dispense with the filthiness of thy spirit, so thy hands
be clean ? Or dost thou wrestle against these heart sins as w^ell
as others ? I do not ask whether such guests come within thy
door ; for the worst of sins may be found in the motions of them,
not only passing by the door of a Christian, but looking in also ;
as holy motions maj'^ be found stirring in the bosom of wicked
men : But I ask thee, whether thou canst find in thy heart to
lodge these guests, and bid them welcome ? 'Tis like thou wouldst
not be seen to walk in the street with such company, not lead a

whore

210 Against Spii^tual Wickedness,

whore by the hand through the town ; not violently break open
thy neighbour's house to murder or rob him ; but canst thou not
under thy own roof, in the withdrawing room of thy soul, let thy
thoughts hold up an unclean lust, while thy heart commits specu-
lative folly with it ? Canst thou not draw thy neighbour into thy
den, and there rend him limb from limb by thy malice, and thy
heart not so much as cry murder, murder? In a word, canst
thou hide any one sin in the inner room of thy heart, there to save
the life of it when enquired after by the word and spirit, as
Kahab hid the spies, and sent the king of Jericho's messengers
to pursue them, as if they had been gone ? Perhaps thou canst
say, The adulterer, the murderer, is not here, thou hast sent these
sms away long ago, and all this while thou hidest them in the
love of thy soul ; know it, or thou shalt another day know it to
thy cost, thou art stark naught. If there were a spark of the
life of God or the love of Christ in thy bosom, though thou couldst
not hinder such motions in thy soul, yet thou wouldst not conceal
them, much less nourish them in thy bosom ; when overpowered
by them, thou wouldst call in help from heaven against these de-
stroyers of thy soul.

tlse 2. Secondly, shew thy loyalty, O ye saints, to God by si
vigorous resistance of, and wrestling against, these spirituals of
wickedness. First, consider. Christian, heart-sins are sins as
well as any ; The thought of foolishness is sin. Pro v. xxiv. 9. —
Mercury is poison in the water distilled, as well as in the gross
body. Uncleannesss, covetousness, murder, are such in the heart
as well as in the outward ; every point of hell is hell. Secondly,
consider, thy spirit is the seat of the Holy Spirit, He takes up
the whole heart for his lodgings, and 'tis time for him to be gone
when he sees his house let over his head. Defile not thy spirit,
till thou art weary of his company. Thirdly, consider, there may
be more wickedness in a sin of the heart, than of the hand and
outward man ; for the aggravation of these is taken from the be-
haviour of the heart in the act. The more of the heart and spirit
is let out, the more malignity is let in to any sinful act. To
backslide in heart, is more than to backslide; 'tis the comfort of
a poor soul when tempted and troubled for his relapses, that
though his foot slides, yet his heart turns not back, but facet h
Christ and heaven at the same time ; so to err in thy heart is
worse than to have an error in the head ; therefore God aggra-
vates Israel's sin with this. They do always err in their hearty
Heb. iii. 10. Their hearts run them upon the error ; they liked
idolatry, and so were soon made to believe what pleased them
best. As on the contrary, the more of the heart and spirit is in
any holy service, the more real goodness there is in it, though it
fall short of others in the outward expression. The widow's two

mites

Against Spiritual Wickedness* • 21 1

mites surpassed all the rest, Christ himself being judge: so in sin,
though the internal acts of sin in thoughts and affections seem
light upon man's balance, if compared with outward acts, yet
these may be so circumstanced, that they may exceed the other
in God's account. Peter lays the accent of Magus's sin on the
w'yc^edi thought y which his words betrayed to be in hia heart:
Pray God, if perhaps the thought oft hi/ heart may he forgiven^
Acts viii. 2!^. Saul's sin in sparing Agag, and saving the best of
the sheep and oxen, which he was commanded to destroy, was
materially a far less sin than David's adultery and murder, yet is
made equal with a greater than both, even witchcraft itself, 1
Sam. XV. ^3. ; and whence received his sin such a dye, but from
the wickedness of his heart, that was worse than David's when
deepest in the temptation ? Fourthly, if satan get into thy spi«
" rit and defile it, O how hard wilt thou find it to stay there ? Thou
hast already sipt of his broth, and now art more likely to be over-
come at last to sit down and make thy full meal of that, which by
tasting hath vitiated thy palate already. It were strange, if while
thou art musing and thy heart hot with the thought of lust, the
fire should not break forth at thy lips, or worse.

Quest. But what help have we against this sort of satan's
temptation ?

Ans. I suppose thee a Christian that maketh this question ;
and if thou dost it in the plainness of thy heart, it proves thee
one. Who besides will or can desire in earnest, to be eased of
these guests ? Even when a carnal heart prays for deliverance
from them, he would be loth his prayer should be heard. Not
yet^ Jjord^ the heart of such a one cries, as Austin confessed of
himself. Sin is as truly the offspring of the soul, as children are
of our bodies ; and it finds as much favour in our eyes, yea,
more ; for the sinner can slay a son to save a sin alive, Micah vi.
7 . and of all sins, none are more made of than these heart.sins. ^j
First, Because they are the first-born of the sinful heart, and
the chiefest strength of the soul is laid out upon them.

Secondly, Because the heart hath more scope in them than in
outward acts. The proud man is staked down oft to a short
state, and caunot ruffle it in the world, and appear to others iu
that pomp he would ; but within his own bosom he can set up a
stage, and his own foolish heart present himself as great a prince
as he pleaseth. The malicious can kill in his desires as many in
a few minutes, as the angel smote in a night in Sennacherib's host,
Nero thus could slay all Rome on the block at once.

Thirdly, These sins stay with the soul when the others leave
it ; vvhen the sinner hath crippled his body with drunkenness and
filthiness, and proves miles emeritus^ cannot follow the devil's
camp any longer in those ways, then these cursed lusts will entpr-

o tain

212 Against Spiritual Wickedness,

tain the sinner with stories of his old pranks and pleasures. In
a word, these inward lusts of the heart have nothing but the con-
science of a Deity to quell them. Other sins put the sinner to
shame before men, and as some that believed on Christ durst not
confess him openly, because they loved the praise of men, so there
are sinners who are kept from vouching their lust openly, from
the same tenderness to their reputation ; but here is no fear of
that, if they can but forget that heaven sees thera, or persuade
themselves there is no danger from thence ; the coast then is
clear, they may be as wicked as they please. These make in-
ward sins so hugged and embraced. If thou therefore canst find
thy heart set against these^ 1 may venture to call thee a real
Christian ; and for thy help against them,

First, Be earnest with God in prayer to move and order thy
heart in its thoughts and desires. If the tongue be such an un-
ruly thing that few can tame. O what is the heart, where such
a multitude of thoughts are flying forth-as thick as bees from the
hive, and sparks from the furnace ! It is not in man, not in the
holiest on earth, to do this without divine assistance. Therefore
we find David so often crying out in this respect to order his
steps in his word, to unite his heart to his fear, to incline his heart
to his testimonies. As a servant, when the child he tends is
troublesome, and will not be ruled by him, calls out to the father
to come to him, who no sooner speaks but all is hush with
him ; no doubt holy David found his heart beyond his skill
or power, that makes him so oft do its errand to God. Indeed
God hath promised thus much to his children, to order their steps
for them. Psalm JLXxvii. 22* only he looks they should bring their
hearts to him for that end. Commit thy work to the Lord^ and
thy thoughts shall he established^ Prov. xvi. 3. or ordered. Art
thou setting thy face towards an ordinance, where thou art sure
to meet satan, who will be disturbing thee with worldly thoughts,
and may be worse ? let God know from thy mouth whither thou
art going, and what thy fears are ; never doth the soul march
in so goodly order, as when it puts itself under the conduct of
God.

Secondly, Set a strong guard about thy outward senses : these
are satan*s landing places, especially the eye and the ear. Take
heed what thou importest at these ; vain discourse seldom passeth
without leaving some tincture upon the heart ; as unwholesome
air inclines to putrefaction things sweet in themselves, so unsa-
voury discourse to corrupt the mind that is pure : look thou
breathest therefore in a clear air. And for thy eye, let it not
wander ; wanton objects cause wanton thoughts. Job knew his
eye and his thoughts were like to go together, and therefore, to
secure one, he covenants with the other^ Job xxxi, 1.

Thirdly,

ji gainst Spirtiuttl Wickedness, 213

Thirdly, Often reflect upon thyself in a day, and observe what
company is with thy heart. A careful master will ever and anon
be looking into his work-house, to see what his servants are
doing, and a wise Christian should do the same. We may know
by the noise in the school, the master is not there : much of the
cnisnile in our bosoms ariseth from the neglect of visiting our
hearts. Now when thou art parleying with thy soul, make this
three- fold inquiry.

First, Whether that which thy heart is thinking on be good or
evil. If evil and wicked, such as are proud, unclean, distrustful
thoughts, shew thy abhorrence of them, and chide thy soul sharply
for so much as holding conference with them, of which nought
can come but dishonour to God, and mischief to thy own soul ;
and stir up thy heart to mourn for the evil neighbourhood of
them, and by this thou shalt ^ve a testimony of thy faithfulness
to God. When David mourned for Abner, all Israel, 'tis said,
understood that day^ tltat ft was not of the king to slay Abner :
Thy mourning for them will shew these thoughts are not so much
of thee, as of satan.

Secondly, If they be not broadly wicked, inquire whether they
be not empty, frothy, vain imaginations, that have no subser-
viency to the glory of God, thy own good, or others ; and if so,
leave not till thou hast made thyself apprehensive of satan's de-
sign on thee in them ; though such are not for thy purpose, yet
they are for his ; they serve his turn to keep thee from better.—
All the water is lost that runs beside the mill, and all thy thoughts
are waste which help thee not to God's work withal in thy ge-
neral or particular calling. The bee will not sit on a flower
where no honey can be sucked, neither should the Christian .«-
Why sittest thou here idle (thou shouldst say to thy soul), when
thou hast so much to do for God and thy soul, and so little time
to dispatch it in ?

Thirdly, If thou findest they are good for matter thy heart is
busied about, then inquire whether they be good for time and
manner, which being wanting, they degenerate.

First, For the season ; that is good fruit which is brought
forth in its season. Christ liked the work his mother would have
put him upon, as well as herself, John ii. but his time was not
come. Good thoughts and meditations misplaced, are, like somd
interpretations of scripture, good truths, but bad expositions;
they fit not the place they are drawn from, nor these the time.
To pray when we siiould hear, or be musing on the sermon whea
we should pray, this is to rob God one way to pay him another.
Secondly, Carefully observe the manner. Thy heart may me-
ditate a good matter, and spoil it in the doing. Thou art (may,
be) musing of thy sins, and aflfecting thy heart into a sense of

o 2 them.

214 Agaimt Spiritual Wickedness.

them, but so, that while thou art stirring up thy sorrow, thou
weakeuest thy faith on the promise, that is thy sin. He is a bad
chirurgeon, that, in opening a vein, goes so deep that he cuts an
artery, and lames the arm, if not kills the man. Or art thoti
thinking of thy family, and providing for that ; this thou oughtest
to do, and art worse than an infidel if thou neglectest ; but may
be these thoughts are so distracting and distrustful as if there
were no promise, no providence to relieve thee. God takes this
ill, because it reflects upon his care of thee ; O how near doth our
duty here stand to our sin ! so much care is necessary ballast to
the soul ; a little more sinks it under the waves of unbelief ; like
some things very wholesome, but one degree more of hot or cold
would make them poison.

CHAP. VIII. I

How Satan labours to corrupt the Christianas Mind with

Error.

npHE second sort of spiritual sins are such as are not only acted
-* in the spirit, but are conversant about spiritual objects pro-
per to the soul's nature, that is a spirit ; and not laid out in carnal
passions of fleshly lusts, in which the soul acts but as a pander for
the body, and partakes of their delights only by way of sym-
pathy ; for as the soul feels the body's pains no other way than
by sympathy, so neither doth it share in the pleasures of the flesh
by any proper taste it hath of them, but only, from its near neigh-
bourhood with the body, doth sympathize with its joy ; but in
spiritual wickednesses that corrupt the mind, here the soul moves
in its own sphere, with a delight proper to itself; and there are
no less of these than the other. There is hardly a fleshly lust,
but hath some spiritual sin analogical to it ; as they say, there is
no species of creatures on the land, but may be patterned in the
sea. Thus the heart of man can produce spiritual sins answering
carnal lusts ; for whoredom and uncleanness of the flesh, there iti
idolatry, called in scripture spiritual adultery, from which the
seat of Antichrist is called spiritual Sodom ,- for sensual drunken-
ness, there is a drunkenness of the miud, intoxicating the judg-
ment with error, a drunkenness of the heart in cares and fears ;
for carnal pride in beauty, riches, honour, there is a spiritual pride
of gifts, graces, &:c. Now satan in an especial manner assaults
the Christian with such as these ; it would require a larger dis-
course than I can allow, to run over the several kinds of them ;
I shall of many pick out two or three. As, first, satan labours

to

Against Spiritual Wickedness, 215

to corrupt the mind with erroneous principles ; he was at work
at the very first plantation of the gospel, sowing his weeds, as
soon almost as Christ his wheat, which sprung up in pernicious
errors, even in the apostles' times, which made them take the
weeding-hook into their hands, and in all their epistles labour to
countermine satan in this design. 'Now satan hath a threefold
design in this his endeavour to corrupt the minds of men, espe-
cially professors, with error.

SECT. I. — First, He doth this in despite to God, against
whom he cannot vent his malice at a higher rate, than by cor-
rupting his truth, which God hath so highly honoured. Psalm
cxxxviii. 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
Every creature bears the name of God ; but in his word and
truth therein contained 'tis writ at length, and therefore he is
more choice of this, than of all his other works; he cares not
much what becomes of the world and all in it, so he keeps his
word, and saves his truth : Ere long we shall see the world on a
light flame ; the heavens and earth shall pass away, but th** teord
of the Lord endures for ever. When God will, he can make
more such worlds as this ; but he cannot make another truth, and
therefore he will not loss one jot thereof. Satan knowing this,
sets all his wits on work to deface this, and disfigure it by un-
sound doctrine. The word is the glass in which we see God,
and seeing him are changed into his likeness by his spirit. If
this glass be cracked, then the conceptions we have of God will
misrepresent him unto us ; whereas the word in its native clear-
ness sets him out in all his glory unto our eye.

Secondly, He endeavours to draw us into this spiritual sin of
error, as the most subtle and effectual means to weaken, if not
destroy, the power of godliness in us. The apostle joins the
spirit of power and a sound mind together, 2 Tim. i. 7, Indeed
the power of holiness in practice depends much on the soundness
of judgment. Godliness is the child of truth, and it must be
nursed, if we will have it thrive, with no other milk thaaof its
own mother. Therefore we are exhorted to desire the sincere
milk of the word^ that we may grow thereby^ 1 Pet. ii. 2. If
this milk be but a little dashed with error, it is not so nutritive.
All error, how innocent soever any seem (like the ivy), draws
away the strength of the souPs love from holiness. Hosea tells
us, whoredom and wine take away the heart ; now error is spi-
ritual adultery. Paul speaks of his espousing them to Christ :
When a person receives an error, he takes a stranger into Christ's
bed, and it is the nature of adulterous love to take away the
wife's heart from her husband, that she delights not in his com-
pany so much as of her adulterous lover : and do we not see it at
tliis day fulfilled ? Do not many shew more zeal ia contending

o 3 for

316 Against Spiritual Wickedness.

for one error, than for many truths ? How strangely ^re th©
liearts of many taken oflF from the ways of God, their love cooled
to the ordinances and messengers of Christ ? And all this occa-
sioned by some corrupt principle got into their bosoms, which
controuls Christ and his truth, as Hagar and her son did Sarab
and her child. Indeed Christ will never enjoy true conjugal lov€t
from the soul, till like Abraham he turns these out of doors. — .
Enor is not so innocent a thing as many think it; it is as ua-m.
wholesome food to the body, that poisons the spirits, and surfeits
the whole body, which seldom passeth away without breaking out
into sores. As the knowledge of Christ carries a soul above the
pollution of the world, so ^rror entangles and betrays it to those
lusts, whose hands it had escaped.

Thirdly, Satan, in drawing a soul into this spiritual sin, hath
a design to disturb the peace of the church, which is rent and
shattered when this fire-ship comes among them. / hear (saitk
Paul) there are divisions amofi^ you^ and I partlij believe it-^
for there must be heresies, 1 Cor. xi. 18, 19. implying that di-
visions are the natural issue of heresy. Error cannot well agree
with error, except it be against the truth : then indeed (like
Pilate and Herod) they are easily made friends ; but when truth
seems to be overcome, and the battle is over with that, then they
fall out among themselves ; and therefore it is no wonder if it be
so troublesome a neighbour to truth. O sirs, what a sweet si-
lence and peace there was among Christians a dozen years ago !
Methinks the looking back to these blessed days in this respect
(though they had also another way their troubles, yet not so un-
comfortable, because that storm united, but this scatters, the
saint's spirits), is joyous ! to remember in what unity and love
Christians walked, that the persecutors of those times might have
said, as their predecessors did of the saints in primitive times,
See how they love one another ; but now, alas ! they may jeer
and say. See how they that loved so dearly, are ready to pluck
one another's throats out.

SECT. II. — Use, The application of this shall be only in a
word of exhortation to all, especially you who bear the name of
Christ by a more eminent profession of him. O beware of this
soul-infection, this leprosy of the head. I hope you do not think
it needless, for 'tis the disease of the times. The plague is be-
gun, yea, spreads apace ; not a flock, a congregation hardly, that
hath uot this scab among them. Paul was a preacher the best of
US all may wiite after, and he presseth this home upon the saints ;
yea, in the constant course of his preaching, it made a piece of
l^is sermon. Acts xx. 30, 31. He sets us preachers also on this
work : Take heed to yourselves^ and to all the jiock ; for I
know this^ that after my departure shall grievous zvolves enter s

also

Against Sptrttuat WtcJcedness* 217

also oftfour own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things ;
therefore watch. And then he presents his own example, that he
hardly made a sermon for several years, but this was part of it,
to warn every one night and day with tears. We need not pro-
phecy what impostors may come upon the stage, when we go off;
there arc too many at present above board of this gang, drawing
disciples after them. And if it be our duty to wain you of them,
surely 'tis yours to watch, lest you by any of them be led into
temptation this hour ther-eof, wherein satan is let loose in so great
a measure to deceive the nation. May you not as easily be soured
with this leaven as the disciples, whom Christ bids beware ?—
Arc you privileged above those famous churches of Galatia and
Corinth, many of which were bewitched with false teachers, and
in a manner turned to another gospel ? Is satan turned orthodox,
or have his instruments lost their cunning, who hunt for souls ?
In a word, is there not a sympathy between thy corrupt heart
and error ? Hast thou not a disposition, which, like the foams
of the earth, makes it natural for these weeds to grow in thy
soil ? Seest thou not many prostrated by this enemy, who sat
upon the mountain of their faith, and thought it should never
have been removed ? Surely they would have taken it ill to have
been told, You are the men and women that will decry Sabbaths,
which now ye count holy ; you will turn Pelagians, who now
defy the name ; you will despise prophecy itself, who now seem
so much to honour the prophets ; you will throw family duties
out of doors, who dare not now go out of doors till you have
prayed there. Yet these, and more than these, are come to pass,
and doth it not behove thee (Christian) to take heed lest thou
fallest also ? And that thou mayest not.

First, Make it thy chief care to get a thorough change of thy
heart. If once the root of the matter be in thee, and thou beest
bottomed by a lively faith on Christ, thou art then safe : I do not ,
say wholly free from all error, but this I am sure, free from in-
gulphing thy soul in damning error. Thej/ went out from us
(saith St John), but the^f were not of us / forif th^ had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us, I John ii. 19.
As if he had said, The}^ had some outward profession, and com-
mon work of the spirit with us, which they have either lost or
carried over to the devil's quarters, but they never had the unc-
tion of the sanctifying spirit. By this, ver. 20. he distinguisheth
them, and comforts the sincere ones, who possibly might fear
their own fall by their departure : But ye have an unction from
the Holy One, and ye know all things* 'Tis one thing to know
a truth, and another to know it by unction. An hypocrite may
do the former, the saint only the latter. It is this unction which
gives the soul the savour of the knowledge qI Christ : those are

o 4 the

218 Against Spiritual Wickedness*

the fit prey for impostors who are enlightened, but not enlivened*
Oh 'tis good to have the heart established with grace ; this is an
anchor will keep us from being set adrift, and carried about with
diverse and strange doctrines, as the apostle teacheth us, Heb.
xiii. 9.

Secondly, Ply the work, of mortification : Crucify the flesh
daily. Heresy, though a spiritual sin, yet by the apostle reckon-
ed among the deeds of the flesh, Gal. v. ^0. because it is occa-
sioned by fleshly motives, and nourished by carnal food and fuel.
Never any turned heretic, but flesh was at the bottom ; either
they served their belly, or a lust of pride ;. 'twas the way to
court, or secured their estates, and saved their lives, as sometimes
the reward of truth is fire and faggot ; some bud or other is in
the straw when least seen, and therefore it's no wonder heresies
should end in the flesh, which in a manner sprang from it. The
rheum in the head ascends in fumes from the stomach, and re-
turns thither, or unto the lungs, which at last fret and ulcerate :
Carnal aflfections first send up their fumes to the understanding,
clouding that, yea, bribing it to receive such and such principles
for truths, which embraced, fall down into the life, corrupting
that with the ulcer of prophaneness. So that, Christian, if once
thou canst take off thy engagements to the flesh, and become a
free-man, so as not to give thy vote to gratify thy carnal fears or
hopes, thou wilt then be a sure friend to truth.

Thirdly, Wait conscionably on the ministry of the word. Satan
commonly stops the ear from hearing sound doctrine, before he
opens it to embrace corrupt. This is the method of souls apos-
tatizing from truth, 2 Tim. iv. 3, 4. They shall turn their ears
from the truths and shall be turned unto fables. Satan, like a
cunning thief, draws the soul out of the road into some lane or
corner, and there robs him of the truth. By rejecting of one or-
dinance, we deprive ourselves of the blessing of all others : Say
not that thou prayest to be led into the truth ; he will not hear
thy prayer, if thou turnest thine ear from hearing of the law. He
that loves his child, when he sees him play the truant will whip
him to school : If God loves a soul, he will bring him back to the
word with shame and sorrow.

Fourthly, When thou liearest any unusual doctrine, though
never so pleasing, make not up the match hastily with it; have
some better testimony of it, before you open your heart to it. —
The apostle indeed bids us entertain strangers (for some have
entertained angels unawares), Heb. xiii. 3. j but he would not
have us carried about with strange doctrine^ v. 9. By this, I
am sure some have entertained devils. 1 confess 'tis not enough
to reject a doctrine, because strange to us, but ground we have
to wait aod inq[uire. Paul marvelled that the Galatians were so

sooa

Against Spiritual Wickedness* 219

soon removed fron) him who had called them unto the grace of
Christ, unto another gospel ; they might sure have stayed till
they had acquainted Paul with it, and asked his judgment :
What, no sooner an impostor cOme into the country and open his
pack, but buy all his ware at first sight ! O friends, were it not
more wisdom to pray such new notions over and over again, to
search the word and our hearts by it, yea, not to trust our own
hearts, but call in council from others? If your minister have
not so much credit with you, get the most holy, humble, and esta-
blished Christians you can find. Error is like fish, which must
be eaten new, or it will stink. When those dangerous errors
sprung up first in New England, O how unsettled were many of
the churches ! what an outcry was made, as if some mine of gold '
had been discovered ! but in a while, when those errors came to
their complexion, and it was perceived whither they were bound,
to destroy churches, ordinances, and power of godliness ; then
such as feared God, who had stept aside, returned back with
shame and sorrow.

%^V»%^%'W»V%%^V»»%»»V»W%%%V»V»iV%

CHAP. IX.

\ Qf Pride oj^ Gifts, and how Satan tempts the Chn'stiau

tliereto.

'T^HE second spiritual wickedness which satan provokes unto,
^ especially the saint, is spiritual pride. This was the sin
which made him of a blessed angel a cursed devil ; and as it was
his personal sin, so he chiefly labours to derive it to the sons of
men ; and he so far prevailed on our first parents, that ever since
this sin hath and doth claim a kind of regency in the heart, mak-
ing use both of good and bad to draw her chariot. First, of
evil ; pride enters into the labours of other sins ; they do but
work to make her brave, as subjects to uphold the state and
grandeur of their prince. Thus you shall see some drudge and
toil, cheat, cozen, oppress ; and what mean they ? O *tis to
get an estate to maintain their pride. Others fawn and flatter,
lie, dissemble, and for what ? to help pride up some mount of
honour. Again, it maketh use of that which is good j it can
work with God's own tools, his ordinances, by which the Holy
Spirit advanceth his kingdom of grace in the hearts of his saints.
These often are prostituted to pride. A man may be very zeal-
ous in prayer, and painful in preaching, and all the while piide is
the master whom he serves, though in God's livery. It can take
sanctuary in the holiest actions, and hide himself under the skirt

of

220 Against Spiritual Wickedness,

of virtue itself. Thus while a man is exercising his charity,
pride may be the idol in secret for which he lavisheth out his
gold so freely, It is hard starving this sin ; there is nothing al-
most but it can live on ; nothing so base that a proud heart will
not be lift op with, and nothing so sacred but it will prophane,
even dare to drink in the bows of the sanctuary ; nay, rather than
starve, it will feed on the carcases of other sins. This minioa
pride will stir up the soul to resist, yea, in a manner, kill some
sins, that she may boastingly shew the head of them, and blow
the creature up with the conceit of himself above others ; as
the Pharisee, who, through pride, bragged that he was not as
the publican ; so that pride, if not looked to, will have to do
every where, and hath a large sphere it moves in. Nothing in-
deed (without divine assistance) the creature hath or doth, but
will soon become a prey to this devourer ; but I am not to handle
it in its latitude. Pride is either conversant about carnal objects,
as pride of beauty, strength, riches, and such like, or about spi-
ritual ; the latter we shall speak a little to. [ confess, for the
former, possibly a saint may be catched in them, no sin to be
slighted, yet not so commonly, for ordinarily pride is of those per-
fections which are suitable, if not proper to the state and calling
we are in : Thus the niU.sician, he is proud of the skill he hath in
his art, by which he excels others of his rank. The scholar,
though he can play perhaps as well, yet is not proud of that, but
looks on it as beneath him ; no, he is proud of his learning and
choice notions ; and so of others. Now the life of a Christian,
as a Christian, is superior to the life of man as a man ; and there-
fore he doth not value himself by these which are beneath him,
but in higher and more raised perfections, which suit a Christian's
calling. As a natural man is proud of perfections suitable to his
natural estate, as honour, beauty ; so the Christian is prone chiefly
to be puffed up with perfections suitable to his life ; I shall
name three : Pride of gifts, pride of grace, pride of privileges ;
these are the things which satan chiefly labours to entangle him
in.

SECT. T First, Pride of gifts. By gifts I mean those su-
pernatural abilities, with which the spirit of God doth enrich
and endow the minds of men, for edification of the body of Christ ;
of which gifts the apostle tells us there is great diversity, and all
from the same spirit, I Cor. xii. 4. There is not greater variety
of colours and qualities in plants and flowers, with which the
earth, like a carpet of needle-work, is variegated for the delight
and service of man, than there is of gifts in the minds of men,
natural and spiritual, to render them useful to one another, both
in civil societies, and Christian fellowship. The Christian, as well
as man, is intended to be a sociable creature 5 and for the better

managing

Against Spiritual Wickedness* 221

managing ibis spiritual commonwealth among Christians, God
doth wisely and graciously provide and impart gifts, suitable to
the place every one stands in to his brethren, as the vessels are
larger or less in the body natural, according to their place there-
in. Now satan labours what he can to taint these gifts, and fly-
blow them with pride in the Christian, that so he may spoil the
Christianas trade and commerce, which is mutually maintained
by the gifts and graces of one another. Pride of gifts hinders
the Christian's trade, at least thriving by their commerce, two
ways.

First, Pride of gifts is the cause why we do so little good with
them to others.

Secondly, Why we receive so little good from the gifts of
others.

First, Pride of gifts hinders the doing of good by them to
others, and that upon a threefold account.

First, Pride diverts a roan from aiming at that end ; so far aft
pride prevails, the man prays, preaches, Sec. rather to bethought
good by others; itither to enthrone himself than Christ, in the
opinions and hearts of his hearers. Pride carries the man aloft,
to be admii^d for the height of his parts and notions, and will
not suffer him to stoop so low as to speak of plain truths, or if he
does, not plainly ; he must have some fine lace, though on a plain
stuffy such a one may tickle the ear, but is very unlikely to do
real good to the soul ; alas ! it is not that he intends.

Secondly, If thia painted Jezebel of pride be perceived to look
out at the window in any exercise, whether of preaching, prayer,
or conference, it doth beget a disdain in the spirits of those that
hear such a one, both good and bad. 'Tis a sin very odious to a
gracious heart, and often makes the stomach go against the food,
though good, through their abhorrence of that pride they see in
the instrument. It is indeed their weakness ; but woe to thera
that by their pride lead them into temptation : Nay, those that
are bad, and may be in the same kind, like not that in another,
which they favour in themselves, and so prejudiced, return as bad
as they went.

Thirdly, Pride of gifts robs us of God's blessing in the use of
tliem. The humble man may have satan at his right hand to op-
pose him ; but be sure the proud man shall find God himself
there to resist him, whenever he goes about any duty. God
proclaims so much, and would have the proud man know when-
ever he meets him he will oppose him ; He resists the proud.
Great gifts are beautiful as Rachel, but pride makes them also
barren like her : Either we must lay self aside, or God will lay
us aside.

Secondly, Pride of gifts hinders the receiving of good from

others.

222 Against Spiritual Wickedness*

others. Pride fills the soul, and a full soul will take nothing from
God, much less from man, to do it good. Such a one is very
dainty : it is not every sermon, though wholesome food, nor every
prayer, though savoury, will go down ; he must have a choice
dish, he thinks he hath better than this of his own ; and is such
a one like to get good ? And truly we may see it, that as the
plain ploughman that can eat of any homely food, if wholesome,
hath more health, and is able to do more work in a day, than
many enjoy or can do in their whole life, that are nice, and
squeamish, and courtly in their fare ; so the humble Christian,
that can feed on plain truths, and ordinances, which have not so
much of the art of man to commend them to their palate, enjoy
more of God, than the nicer sort of professors, who are all to be
served in a lordly dish of rare gifts. The church of Corinth was
famous for gifts above other churches, 1 Cor. i. but not in grace ;
none so charged for weakness in that, 1 Cor. iii. 2. He calls them
carnal^ babes in Christ, so weak, as not able to digest man's meat ;
I have fed yoti^ saith Paul, with milk and not with meat ; for
hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Why ? what is the matter ? the reason lies, ver. 3. Ye are carnal^
there is among you envy atid strife^ ver. 4. One saith^ I am of
Paul ; another^ I am of ^polios. Pride makes them take parts,
and make sides, one for this preacher, another for that, as they
fancied one to excel another. And this is not the way to thrive.
Pride destroys love, and love wanting edification is lost. The
devil hath made foul work in the church by this engine. Zanchy
tells of one in Geneva, who being desired to go to hear Viretus,
that preached at the same time with Calvin, answered his friend.
If Paul were to preach, relicto Paulo Calvinum audirem ; I
would leave Paul himself to hear Calvin. And will pride in the
gifts of another so far transport, even to the borders of blas-
phemy ? What work then will pride make, when the g-.fts are a
man's own.

SECT. II Use 1. Doth satan thus stir up saints to this spi-
ritual pride of gifts ? First, here is a word to you that have mean
gifts, yet truth of grace — be content with thy condition. Per-
haps when thou hearest others, how enlargedly they pray, how
able to discourse of the truths of God, and the like, thou art ready
to go into a corner, and mourn to think how weak thy memory,
how dull thy apprehension, how straitened thy spirit, hardly able
(though in secret) to utter and express thy mind to God in
prayer. O thou art ready to think those the happy men and
women, and almost murmur at thy condition ; well, canst thou
>iot say. Though I have not words, I hope, I have faith ; I can-
not dispute for the truth, but I am willing to suffer for it ; I can-
not remember a sermon, but I never heard the word, but I hate

sin

Against Spiritual Wickedness. 223

sin and love Christ more than ever ? Lord, thou knowest I love
thee. Truly (Christian) thou hast the better part j thou little
thinkest what a mercy may be wrapt up even in the meanest of
thy gifts, or what temptations their gifts expose them to, which
God, for aught 1 know, may in mercy deny tliee. Joseph's coat
made him finer than his brethren, but this caused all his trouble,
this set the archers a shooting their arrows into his side ; thus
great gifts lift a saint up a little higher in the eyes of men, but
it occasions many temptations which thou meetest not with, that
art kept low. What with envy from their brethren, malice from
satan, and pride in their own hearts, 1 dare say none find so hard
a work to go to heaven as such ; much ado to bear up against
those waves and winds, while thou cree^est along the shore un.
der the wind to heaven. It is with such, as with some great lord
of little estate ; a meaner man oft hath money in his purse, when
he hath none, and can lend his lorship some at a need. Great
gifts and parts are titles of honour among men, but many such
may come and borrow grace and comfort of a mean-gifted bro-
ther ; possibly the preacher of his poor neighbour. O poor
Christian, do not murmur or envy them, but rather pity and pray
for them ; they need it more than others ; his gifts are thine, •
thy grace is for thyself; thou art like a merchant that hath hifi
factor goes to sea, but he hath his adventure without hazard
brought home. Thou joinest with him in prayer, hast the help
of his gifts, but not the temptation of his pride.

Use 2, Secondly, Doth satan labour thus to draw to pride of
gifts ? This speaks a word to you whom God hath given more
gifts than ordinary — beware of pride, that is now your snare.
Satan is at work ; if possible, he will turn your artillery against
yourself; thy safety lies in thy humility ; if this lock be cut, the
legions of hell are on thee. Remember whom thou wrestlest
with, spiritual wickedness ; and their play is lift up, that they
may give the sorer fall. Now the more to stir up thy heart
against it, I shall add some soul-humbling considerations.

First, Consider these spiritual gifts are not thy own, and wilt
thou be proud of another's bounty ? Is not God the founder, and
can he not soon be the confounder of thy gifts ? Thou that art
proud of thy gourd, what wilt thou be when it is gone ? Surely
then thou wilt be peevish and angry ; and truly thou takest the
course to be stript of them. Gifts come on other terms than
grace. God gives grace as a free-hold ; it hath the promise of
this and another world ; but gifts come on liking ; though a fa-
ther will not cast off his child, yet he may take away his fine
coat and ornaments, if proud of them.

Secondly, Gifts are not merely for thyself. As the light of
the sun is ministerial, it shines not for itself ; so all thy gifts are

for

S24 Agaimt Spiritual Wickedness*

for others : Gifts for the edifying of the body. Suppose a inaii
should leave a chest of money in your hands to be distributed to
others, what folly is it in this man to put this into his own inven-
tory, and applaud himself that he hath so much money ? Poor
soul, thou art but God's executor, and by the time thou hast paid all
the legacies, thou wilt see little left for thee to brag and boast of.

Thirdly, Know (Christian) thou shalt be accountable for these
talents : Now with what face can a proud soul look on God ?,
Suppose one left an executor to pay legacies, and this man should
pay them, not as legacies of anoiher, but gifts of his own. Christ
at his ascension gave gifts, that his children should receive ; thou
hast some in thy hand ; now a proud soul gives out all, not as the
legacy of Christ, but as his own ; he assumes all to himself. O,
how abominable is this, to entitle ourselves to Christ's honours !

Fourthly, Thy gifts commend thee not to God. Man may
be taken with thy expression and notion in prayer ; but these are
all pared off when thy prayer comes before God. O itoman
(saith Christ), grea^ is thy faith! not polite and flourishing thy
language. It were good after our duties to sort the ingredients
of which they are made up, what grace contributed, and what
gifts, and what pride, and when all the heterogeneal stuff is se-
vered, you shall see in what a little compass the actings of grace
in our duties will lie.

Fifthly, Consider, while thou art priding in thy gifts, thou art
dwindling and withering in thy grace. Such are like corn that
runs up much into straw, whose ear commonly is but light and
thin. Grace is too much neglected, where gifts are too highly
prized ; we are commanded to be clothed with humility. Our
garments cover the shame of our bodies, humility the beauty of
the soul ; and as a tender body cannot live without clothes, so
neither can grace without this clothing of humility. It kills the
spirit of praise, when thou shouldst bless God, thou art applaud-
ing thyself. It destroys Christian love, and stabs our fellowship
with the saints to the heart : A proud man hath not room enough
to walk in company, because the gifts of others he thinks stand
in his way. Pride so distempers the palate, that it can relish
nothing that is drawn from another's vessel.

Sixthly, It is the fore-runner of some gi*eat sin, or some great
affliction. God will not suffer such a weed as pride to grow in
his garden, without taking some course or other to root it up;
raay be he will let thee fall into some great sin, and that shall
bring thee home with shame. C^od useth sometimes a thorn in
the flesh, to prick the bladder of pride in the spirit ; or at least
some great affliction, the very end whereof ii^ to hide pride from
man, Job xxxiii. 17, 18. As you do with your hot-metaled
liovses, ride them over plowed lands to tame them, and then you

can

Against Sptrituul Wickedness* 225

can sit safely on their back. If God's honour be in danger
through thy pride, then expect a rod, and most likely the afflic-
tion shall be in that which will be most grievous to thee, in the
thing thou art proud of. Hezekiah boasted of his treasure, God
sends the Chaldeans to plunder him. Jonah was fond of his gourd,
and that is smitten ; and if thy spirit be blown up with the pride
of gifts, thou art in danger of having them blasted, at least in the
opinion of others, whose breath of applause (possibly) was a
means to overset thy unballast spirit.

SKCT. III. — Quest. But how tvould you direct us against
this .«

Ans, Arguments you have had before. I shall only therefore
point to two or three doors, where your enemy comes forth upon
you ; and surely the very sight thereof, if thou beest loyal to
Christ, will stir thee up to fall upon it.

First, Pride discovers itself in dwelling upon the thoughts of
onr gifts, with a secret kind of content to see our face, till at last
we fall in love with it. We read of some, whose eyes are full of
the adulteress^ and cannot cease from sin ; a proud heart is full
of himself, his own abilities cast their shadow before him ; they
are in his eye wherever he goes ; the great subject and theme of
his thoughts is what he is, and what he hath above others, ap-
plauding himself, as Bernard confessetb, that (when one would
think he had little leisure for such thoughts) even in preachings
pride would be whispering in his ear, O well done, Bernard.—
Now have a ckre (Christian) of chatting with such company.
Run from such thoughts as from a bear. If the devil can get
thee to stand on this pinnacle, while he presents thee with the
glory of his spiritual attainments and endowments, for thee to gaze
on them, thy weak head will soon turn round in pride ; and there-
fore labour to keep the sense of thy own infirmities lively in thy
soul, to divert the temptation. As those who are subject to some
kind of fits, carry about them things proper for the disease, that
when the fit is coming (which oft is occasioned with a sweet per-
fume) they may use them for their help. Sweet scents are not
more dangerous for them, than any thing that may applaud thee
is to thy soul. Have a care therefore not onl}' of wearing such
thoughts in thy own bosom, but also of sitting by others, that
bring the sweet scent of thy perfections to thee by their flattery.

Secondly, This kind of pride appears in a forwardness to ex-
pose itself to view. David's brethren were mistaken in him in-
deed, 1 Sam. xvii. 18. ; but oft the pride and naughtiness of the
heart break out at this door. Christ's carnal friends bid Christ
shew himself ; pride loves to climb up, not as Zaccheus to see
Christ, but to he seen himself. The fool (Solomon tells us) hath
no delight in understandings but that his heart may discover it*

se[f\

226 Against Spiritual Wickedness*

self^ Prov. xviii. 2. Pride would be somebody, and therefore
comes abroad to court the multitude, whereas humility delights
in privacy ; as the leaves do cover and shade the fruits, that some
hand must gently lift them up before they can see the fruit, so
should humility and a holy modesty conceal the perfections of the
soul, till a hand of providence by some call invites them out. —
There is a pride in naked gifts as well as in naked breasts and
backs : humility is a necessary veil to all other graces ; and
therefore first, Christian, look whenever thou comest forth to
public duty, that thou hast a call : it is obedience to be ready to
answer when God calls thee forth ; but it is pride to run before
God speaks. Secondly, when called, earnestly implore divine
strength against this enemy : shun not a duty for fear of pride ;
thou mayest shew it in the very seeming to escape it, but go in
the strength of God against it ; there is more hope of overcom-
ing it by obedience than disobedience.

Thirdly, In envying the gifts of others, when, they seem to
blind our own, that they are not so fair a prospect as we desire.
This is a weed may grow too rank in a good soil. Aaron and
Miriam could not bear Moses' honour, Numb. xii. 1. That was
the business, though they picked a quarrel with him about his'
wife (because an Ethiopian) as appears plainly, ver. 2. Hath
the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses ? hath he iwt also spoken
by Its 9 They thought Moses went away with too much of the
honour, and did repine that God should use liira more than them-
selves. And it is observable, the lusting for flesh broke out
among the mixt multitude and baser sort of people, Numb. xi. 4,
5. But this of pride and envy took fire in the bosoms of the
most eminent for place and piety. O what need then have we,
poor creatures, to watch our hearts, when we see such precious
servants of God led into temptation ? The spirit that dwelltth
in us lusteth to envy^ Jam. iv. 5. Our corrupt nature is ever
putting on to this sin. It is as hard to keep our hearts and this
Mn asunder, as it is to hinder two lovers from meeting together.
Thatch is not more ready to be fired with every flash of lightning,
than the heart to be kindled at the shining forth of any excelling
w-ift or grace in another. It was one of the first windows that
corrupt nature looked out at, a sin that shed the first blood ;
Cain's envy hatched Abel's murder. Now if ever thou meanest
to get the mastery of this sin,

First, Call in help from heaven. No sooner hath the apostle
set forth how big and teeming full the heart of man is with envy,
but he shews where a fountain of grace is infinitely exceeding that
of lust ; the spirit within us lusteth to envy^ but he giveth more
grace^ ver. 5. And therefore sit not down tamely under this sin,
it is not unconquerable, God can give thee more grace than

thou

Against Spitntual Wickedness* 227

thou hast sin, more humility than thou hast pride. Be but bo
humble as cordially to beg his grace, and thou ehalt not be so
proud as wickedly to envy his gifts or grace in others.

Secondly, Make this sin as black and ugly as thou canst pos-
sibly to thy thought, that, when it is presented to thee, thou
mayest abhor it the more. Indeed there needs no more that its
own face (wouldst thou look wishly on it), to make thee out of
love with it. For first. This envying of other's gifts casts great
contempt upon God, and that more ways than one.

First, When thou enviest the gifts of thy brethren, thou takest
upon thee to teach God what he shall give, and to whom ; as if
the great God should take counsel or ask leave of thee before he
dispenseth his gifts, and darest thou stand to thy own envious
thoughts with this interpretation ? Such a one thou findest
himself give. Matt. xx. 15. Is it not lawful for me to do what
I will with mine own 9 as if Christ had said. What hath any
to do to cavil at my disposal of what is not theirs, but mine to
give?

Secondly, Thou malignest the goodness of God. It troubles
thee, it seems, that God hath a heart to do good to any besides
thyself; thy eye is evil, because his is good. Wouldst not thou
have God be good ? you had as good speak out, and say. You
would not have him God : he can as soon cease to be God, as to
be good.

Thirdly, Thou art an enemy to the glory of God, as thou de-
facest that which should set it forth. Every gift is a ray of di-
vine excellency ; and as all the beams declare the glory of the
sun, so all the gifts God imparts, declare the glory of God : now
envy labours to deface and sully the representations of God ; it
hath ever something to disparage the excellency of another withal.
Gpd shewed Miriam her sin by her punishment ; she went to
bespatter Moses, that shone so eminently with the gifts and graces
of God^ and God spits in her face. Numb, xii., yea, fills her all
over with a noisome scab. Dost thou cordially wish well to the
honour of God ? Why then hangest thou thy head, and dost not
rather rejoice to see him glorified by the gifts of others. Could
a heathen take it so well, when himself was passed by, and others
chose^n to plarces of honour and government, that he said, He
was glad his city could find so many more worthy than him-
self? and shall a Christian repine that any are found fit to
honour God besides himself?

Secondly, Thou wrongest thy brother, as thou sinnest against
the law of love, which obligeth thee to rejoice in his good as thy
own, yea, to prefer him in honour before thyself. Thou canst
not love and envy the same persmi ; envy is as contrary to love,
as the hectical feverish fire in the body is to the kindly heat of

p nature.

228 Against Spiritual Wickedness*

nature. Charity envieth not, 1 Cor. xiii. How can it when it
lives where it loves ? and when thou ceasest to love, thou beginnest
to hate and kill him, and dost not thou tremble to be found a
murderer at last ?

Thirdly, Thou consultest worst of all for thyself. God is out
of thy reach : what thou spittest against heaven, thou art sure
to have fall on thy own face at last ; and thy brother, whom thou
enviest, God stands bound to defend him against thy envy, be-
cause he is maligned for what he hath of God in him. Thus did
God plead Joseph's cause against his envious brethren, and Da-
vid's against wicked Saul. Thyself only hast real hurt.

First, Thou deprivest thyself of what thou mightest reap
from the gifts of others. That old saying is true, Tolle invidiam,
mea tua sunt &^ tua mea : What thou hast is mine, and what I
have thine, when envy is gone. Whereas now (like the leech,
which they say draws out the worst blood) thou suckest nothing
but what swells thy mind with discontent, and is after vomited
out in strife and contention. O what a sad thing is it, that one
should go from a precious sermon, a sweet prayer, and bring
nothing away but a grudge against the instrument God used, as
we see in the Pharisees, and others, at Christ's preaching !

Secondly, Thou robbest thyself of the joy of thy life : He
that is cruel^ troubles his ownjiesh^ Prov. xi. 17. The envious
man doth it to purpose ; he sticks the honour and esteem of
others as thorns in his own heart ; he cannot think of them
without pain and anguish, and he must needs pine that is ever in
pain.

Thirdly, Thou throwest thyself into the mouth of temptation :
thou needest give the devil no greater advantage ; it is a stock
any sin almost will grow upon. What will not the patriarchs do
to rid their hands of Joseph, whom they envied ? that very pride
which made them disdain the thought of bowing to his sheaf,
made them stoop far lower, even to debase themselves as low as
hell, and be the devil's instruments to sell their dear brother into
slavery, which might have been worse to him (if God had not
provided otherwise) than if they had slain him on the place.—
What an impotent and cruel mind did Saul shew against David,
when once envy had envenomed his heart ! From that day on
which he heard David preferred in the women's songs above him-
self, he could never get that sound out of his head, but did ever
devote this innocent man to death in his thoughts, who had done
him no other wrong than in being an instrument to keep the
crown on his head, by the hazard of his own life with Goliah. —
O it is a bloody sin, it is a bloody sin, it is the womb wherein a
whole litter of other sins are formed, Rom. i. 29. Full of envy^
murder^ debate, deceit, malignity^ S^c, and therefore except

you

Against Sptnltml Wickedness. 229

you be resolved to bid the devil welcome, and his whple train,
resist him in this, that comes before to take up quarters for the
rest.

CHAP. X.

Of Pride of Grace*

SECONDLY, Pride of grace. This is another way satan as-
saults the Christian. It is true, grace cannot be proud, yet
at is possible a saint may be proud of his grace ; there is nothing
the Christian hath or doth, but this worm of pride will breed ia
it. The world we live in is corruptible, and all here is subject
to putrify, as things kept in a nasty muggish room subject them
to mould. It is not the nature of grace, but the salt of the co-
venant keeps and preserves the purity of it ; in heaven indeed we
shall be safe. But how can a saint be said to be proud of his
. grace ? Then a soul is proud of his grace, when he trusts in his
grace. Trust and confidence is an incommunicable flower of
God*s crown as Sovereign Lord ; even among men it goes along
with royalty. Set up a king, and as such he expects you will
give him this, as the undoubted prerogative of his place ; and
therefore to seek protection from any other is (as it were) to set
up another king, Judg. xix. 15* If indeed you anoint me king
over you, then come a/nd put your trust under my shadow. ^-m
Therefore, when a soul puts his trust in any thing beside God,
he sets up a prince, a king, an idol, to which he gives God's
glory away. Now it doth not make the sin less, that it is the
grace of God we crown, thau if it were a lust we crowned* 'Tis
idolatry to worship a holy angel, as well as a cursed devil ; to
make our grace our God, as well as our belly our God ; nay, ra-
ther it adds to it, because that is now used to rob him of his
glory, which should have brought him in the greatest revenue of
glory ; certainly the more treasure you put into your servants
hands, the greater wrong to you for him to run away with it. I
<loubt not but David could have borne it better to have seen a
Philistine drive him from his throne than a son, an Absalom.—-
JBut how can or may a saint be said to trust in his grace ?

First, By trusting to the strength of his grace.

Secondly, By trusting on the worth of his grace. Indeed a
professed trust in grace, I conceive, cannot stand with grace ;
but there is an obliqne kind of trust, or that which by interpre*.
tation may savour of it. ISatan is sly in his assaults.

SECT. L — First, of the first, To trust in the strength of grace

P 2 is

2B0 Against Spiritual Wickedness,

is to be proud of grace. This is opposed to that poverty of spirit
so commended by our Saviour, Matt. v. by which a man lives m
the continual sense of his spiritual beggary and nothingness, and
so hath his recourse to Christ, as the poor to the rich man's door,
knowing he hath nothing at home to maintain him. Such a one
was Paul, not able to do any thingof himself j he is not ashamed
to let the world know that Christ carries his purse for him. Our
sufficiency is of God ; yea, after many years trading, this holy
man sees nothing he hath got, Phil. iii. 13. I count not myself to
have apprehended^ he is still pressing forward : Ask him how he
lives, he will tell you who keeps house for him ; Ilivt^yet not /,
Gal. ii. 20. as ask a beggar where he hath his meat, clothes, &c.
he will say, 1 thank my good Master. Now satan chiefly labours
to puff the soul up with an over- weening conceit of its own ability,
as the readiest means to bring him into his snare : satan knows 'tis
God's method to give his children into his hands, when once they
grow proud and self-confident : Hezekiah was left to a tempta-
tion, 2 Chr. xxii. 31. /o try him : Why ? God had tried him to
purpose a little before in affliction, what needs this ? O ! Heze-
kiah's heart was lifted up after bis affliction. It was time for
God to let the tempter alone a little to foil him : probably now
Hezekiah had high thoughts of his grace ; O, he would never do
as he had done before, and God will let him see what a weak crea-
ture he is. Peter makes a whip for his own back in that bravado.
Though all should forsake Jliee^ yet mil not I. Christ now in
mere mercy must set satan on him, to lay him on his back, that,
seeing the weakness of his faith, he might be dismounted from the
height of his pride. All that I shall say from this, is to intreat
thee (Christian) to have a care of this kind of pride. You know
what Joab said to David, when he perceived his heart lift up with
the strength of his kingdom, and therefore would have the peo-
ple numbered. The ZiOt^d God add unto thy people, how many
soever they be^ a hundred fold ; but uhy doth my Lord and King
delight in this thing? 2 Sam. xxiv. 3. The Lord add to the
strength of thy grace a hundred fold, but why delightest thou in
this ? WTiy shouldst thou be lift up ? Is it not grace ? Shall
the groom be proud because he rides on his master's horse ? or the
mud wall, because the sun shines on it ? Mayest thou not say of
every dram of grace, as the young man of his hatchet, Alas^ mas-
ter^ it is borrowed? Nay, not only borrowed, but thou canst not
use it without his skill and strength that lends it thee. O beware
of this : let not those vain thoughts lodge in thee, lest thou enter
into temptation. It is a breach which a whole troop of sins may
enter at, yea will, except speedily filled up.

First, It will make thee soon grow loose and negligent in thy

duty. 'Tis sense of iiwufficiency keeps a soul at work, to pray and

^ hear.

Against Spit'iiual Wiclcedness* 231

hear, as want in the house and hutch holds up the market ; no luaa
comes thitliQr to buy what he hath at home. Z^p^ saith Jacob,
go down to Egypt for corn^ that «?e may live and not die,^~»
Thus saith the needy Christian, Dp soul, to thy God, thy faith
is weak, thy patience almost spent, ply thee to the throne of
grace^ go with thy homer to the ordinances, and get some
supplies. Now a soul conceited of his store hath another
song, So\il^ take thine ease, thou art richly laid up for many
days. Let the doubting soul pray, thy faith is strong ; let the
weak lie at the breast, thou art well grown up ; nay, 'tis well if
it goes not further to a despising of ordinances, except they have
some more courtly fare than ordinary : such a pass were the Co-
rinthians come to, 1 Cor. iv. 8. Now ye are full, now ye are rich^
ye reign like kings without us. I pray observe how he lays the
accent on the particle now ; tiow ye are rich^ as if he had said,
I knew the time, if Paul had been come to town, and news
spread abroad in the city that Paul was to preach, you would
have flocked to hear him, and blessed God for the season : but
then ye were poor and empty ; now ye are full, you have got to
a higher attainment : Paul is a plaip fellow now, he may carry his
cheer to a hungry people if he will, we are well paid. And when
once the heart is come to this, 'tis easy to judge what will follow.
Secondly^ This trusting to the strength of grace will make the
soul bold and venturous. The humble Christian is the wary
Christian ; he knows his weakness, and this makes him afraid. I
have a weak head, saith he, I may be soon disputed into an error
and heresy, and therefore I dare not come where such stuff is
broached, lest my weak head should be intoxicated : the confident
man, he will sip of every cup, he fears none ; no, he is stablish-
ed in the truth, a whole team of heretics shall uot^draw him aside.
I have a vain light heart, saith the humble soul, I dare not come
among wicked debauched company, lest I should at last bring the
naughty man home with me : but on trusting to the strength of
his grace, dares venture into the devil's quarters. Thus Peter in-
to the rout of Christ's enemies, and how he came off you know ;
there his faith had been slain on the place, had not Christ sound-
ed a retreat, by the seasonable look of love he gave him. Indeed
I have read of some bragging philosophers, who did not think it
enough to be temperate, except they had the object for intempe-
rance present j and therefore they would go into taverns and
whore-houses, as if they meant to beat the devil on his own
ground ; but the Christian knows an enemy nearer than so, which
they were ignorant of; and that he need not go over his own
threshold to challenge the devil. He hath lust in his bosom that
will be hard enough for him all his days, without giving it the
vantage ground. Christian, I know no sin but thou may est be

p 3 left

252 Against Spiritual Wickedness.

left to commit it, except one. It was a bold speech of him, and
yet a good man, (as 1 have heard), If Clapham die of the plague,
say Claphara had no faith : and this made him boldly go among
the infected. If a Christian, thou shalt not die of spiritual
plagues, yet such may have the plague sores of gross sins running
on them for a time, and is not this sad enough ? Therefore walk,
humbly with thy God.

Thirdly, This high conceit of the strength of thy grace will
'make thee cruel and churlish to thy weak brethren in their infir-
mities, a sin that least becomes a saint. Gal. vi. 1. If any one
he overtaken^ you that be spiritual restore such a one with meek-
ness. But how shall a soul get such a meek spirit ? It follows :
considering thyself^ lest thou also he tempted. What makes men
hard to the poor ? They think they shall never be so themselves.
Why are many so sharp in their censures ? But because they trust
too much to their grace, as if they could never fall. O you are
in the body, and the body of sin in you, therefore fear. Bernard
used to say, when he heard any scandalous sin of a professor,
JFIodie tin, eras mihi»-^He fell to-day, I may stumble to-mor-
row.

SECT. II. — The second way a soul may be proud of his grace,
is by resting on it for his acceptancewith God. The scripture calls
inherent grace our own righteousness (though God indeed be the
efficient of it), and opposeth it to the righteousness of Christ, which
alone is called the righteousness of God^ Bom. x. 1 . Now to rest oq
any grace inherent, is to exalt our own righteousness above the
righteousness of God ; and what pride will this amount to ? If this
wpre so, then a saint, when he comes to heaven, might say. This is
heaven which I have built, my grace hath purchased ; and thus the
God of heaven should become tenant to nis creature in heaven.
No : God hath cast the order of our salvation into another method
of grace, but not of grace in us, but grace to us. Inherent grace
hath its place and office to accompany salvation, Heb. vi. 9. but
not procure it. This is Christ's work, not the work of grace. —
When Israel waited on the Lord at mount Sinai, they had their
bounds ; not a man must come up besides Moses to treat with
God, no, not touch the mount lest they die : thus all the graces
of the spirit wait on God, but none come up to challenge any ac-
ceptance of God besides faith, which is a grace that presents the
soul not in its own garments. But you will say. What needs all
this ? Where is the man that trusts in his grace ! Alas, where
is the Christian that doth fully stand clear, and freely come off by
his own righteousness ? He is a rare pilot indeed that can steer
his faith in so direct a course, as not now and then to knock upon
his duty, and run aground upon that grace. Abraham went in to
Hagar, and the children of Abraham's faith are not perfectly dead

tQ

Against Spiritual Wickedness. 23S

lo the law, and may be found sometimes in Hagar's arms ; wit-
ness the flux and reflux of our faith, according to the various
aspect of our obedience ; when this seems full, then our faith is
at a spring tide, and covers all the mountains of our fears ; but
let it seem to wain in any service or duty, then the Jordan of
our faith flies back, and leaves the soul naked. The devil's spite
is at Christ, and therefore since he could not hinder his landing
(which he endeavoured all he could), nor work his will on his
person when he was come, he goes now in a more refined way to
fJarken the glory of his sufferings, and the sufliciency of his righ-
teousness, by blending ours with his; thy doctrine of justifica-
tion by faith hath had more works and batteries made against it,
than any other in the scripture. Indeed many other errors were
but his sly approaches to get nearer to undermine this ; and
lastly, when he cannot hide this truth (which now shines in the
church like the sun in its strength), then he labours to hinder
the practical improvement of it, that we (if he can help it) shall
not live up to our own principles, making us, at the same time
that in our judgment we profess acceptance only through Christ,
in our practice confute ourselves. Now there is a double pride
in the soul he makes use of for this end ; the one I may call a
mannerly pride, the other a self-applauding pride.

I. A mannerly pride, which comes forth in the habit and guise
of humility, and that discovers itself, either at the soul's first
coming to Christ, and keeps him from closing with the promise,
or afterwards in the daily course of a Christian's walking with
God, which keeps him from comfortable living on Christ.

First, When a poor soul is staved off the promise by the sense
of his own unworthiness and great unrighteousness ; tell him of a
pardon, alas ! he is so wrapt up with the thoughts of his own
vileness, that you cannot fasten it upon him. What, will God
ever take such a toad as he is into his bosom, discount so many-
great abominations at once, and receive him into his favour, that
hath been so long in rebellious arms against him ? he cannot be-
lieve it, no, though he hears what Christ hath done and suffered
for sin, he refuseth to be comforted. Little doth the soul think
what a bitter root such thoughts spring from ; thou thinkest thou
dost well, thus to declaim against thyself, and aggravate thy sins ;
indeed thou canst not paint them black enough, or entertain too
low and base thoughts of thyself for them : But what wrong hath
God and Christ done thee, that thou shouldst so unworthily re-
flect upon the mercy of the one, and merit of the other ? Mayest
thou not do this, and be tender of the good name of God also ?
Is there no way to shew thy sense of thy sin, except thou asperse
thy Saviour ? Canst thou not charge thyself, but thou must con-
dema God, and put Christ and his blood to shame before isatan,

T 4 who

234 Against Spiritual Wickedness,

who triuraphs more in this than all thy other sins ? In a word,
though thou like a wretch hast undone thyself, and damned thy
soul by thy sins, yet art thou not williug God should have the
glory of pardoning them, and Christ the honour of procuring the
same ? Or art thou like him in the gospel, Liuke xvi. 3. who
could not dig, and to beg was ashamed. Thou canst not earn
heaven by thine own righteousness, and is thy spirit so stout that
thou wilt not beg it for Christ's sake, yea, take it at God's hands,
who in the gospel comes a begging to thee, and beseecheth thee
to be reconciled to him ? Ah, soul ! who would ever have thought
there could have lain such pride under such a modest veil ? And
yet none like it. 'Tis horrible pride for a beggar to starve, ra-
ther than to take an alms at a rich man's hands ; a malefactor,
rather to chuse his halter, than a pardon from his gracious prince's
hand ; but here is one infinitely surpassing both ; a soul pining
and perishing in sin, and yet rejecting the mercy of God, and the
helping hand of Christ to save him. Though Abigail did not
think herself worthy to be David's wife, yet she thought David
was worthy of her, and therefore she humbly accepted his offer,
and makes haste to go with the messengers : That is the sweet
frame of heart indeed, to lie low in the sense of your own vileness,
yet to believe ; and renounce all conceit of worthiness in our-
selves, yet not therefore to renounce all hope of mercy, but the
more speedily to make haste to Christ that wooes us. All the
pride and unmannerliness ly in making Christ stay for us, who
bids his messengers invite poor sinners to come, and tell them,
all things ar& ready. . But may be thou wilt say still. It is not
pride that keeps thee off, but thou canst not believe that God
will ever entertain such as thou art. Truly, thou mendest the
matter but little with this : either thou keepest some lust in thy
heart, which thou wilt not part with to obtain the benefit of the
promise, and then thou art a notorious hypocrite, who under such
an outcry for thy sins, canst drive a secret trade with hell at the
same time ; or if not so, thou dost discover the more pride in that
thou darest stand out, when thou hast nothing to oppose against
the many plain and clear promises of the gospel, but thy peremp-
tory unbelief. God bids the wicked forsake his ways, and turn
to him, and he will abundantly pardon him ; but thou sayesl,
thou canst not believe this for thy own self. Now who speaks
the truth ? One of you two must be the liar : either thou must
take it with shame to thyself, for what thou said against God and
his promise (and that is thy best course), or thou must proudly,
yea, blasphemously cast it upon God, as every unbeliever doth,
1 John V. 10. Nay, thou makest him forsworn ; for God (to give
poor sinners the greater security in flying for refuge to Christ,
who is the hope set before them; Heb. vi. 17, 18.) hath sworn

they

Against Spiritual Wickedness* 235

should have strong consolation. O happy we, for whose sake
God puts himself under an oath ; but O miserable we, who will
not believe God, no, not when he swears.

Secondly, When the soul hath shot the great gulph, and got
into a state of peace and life by closing with Christ, yet this man-
nerly pride satan makes use of, in the Christian's daily course of
duty and obedience, to disturb him, and hinder his peace and
comfort. O how uncheerfully, yea, joylessly, do many precious
souls pass their days ! If you enquire what is the cause, you
shall find all their joy runs out at the crannies of their imperfect
duties, and weak graces ; they cannot pray as they would, and
walk as they desire, with evenness and constancy ; they see
how short they fall of the holy rule ini;he word, and the pattern
which others more eminent in grace do set before them ; and this,
though it doth not make them throw the promises awa}', and
quite renounce all hope of Christ, yet it begets many sad fears
and suspicions, yea, makes them sit at the feast Christ hath pro-
vided, and not know whether they may eat or not. In a word,
as it robs them of their joy, so Christ of that glory w^hich he
should receive from their rejoicing in him. I do not say. Chris-
tian,'tliou oughtest i^ot to mouru for these defects thou findest in
thy graces and duties ; nay, thou couldst not approve thyself to
be sincere, if thou didst not. A gracious heart, seeing how far
short his renewed state (for the present) falls of man's primitive
holiness by creation, cannot but weep and mourn, as the Jews,
to behold the second temple ; yet, Christian, even while the tears
are in thy eyes for thy imperfect graces (for a soul riseth with
his grave-clothes on), thou shouldst rejoice, yea, triumph over all
these thy defects by faith in Christ, in whom thou art complete.
Col. i. 10, while imperfect in thyself. Christ's presence in the
second temple (which the first had not) made it, though com-
paratively mean, more glorious than the first, Hag. ii. 9. How
much more doth his presence in this spiritual temple of a graci-
ous heart, imputing his righteousness to cover all its uncomeliness,
make the soul glorious above man at first ? This is a garment,
for which, as Christ saith of the lilly, we neither spin nor toil ;
yet Adam, in all his created royalty, was not so clad as the
weakest believer is with this on his soul. Now, Christian, con-
sider well what thou dost, while thou sittest languishing under
the sense of thy own weaknesses, and refusest to rejoice in Christ,
and live comfortably on the sweet privileges thou art interested
in by thy marriage to him. Dost thou not bewray some of this
spiritual pride working in thee ? O ! if thou couldst pray with-
out wandering, walk without limping, believe without wavering,
then thou couldst rejoice and walk cheerfully. It seems, soul,
thou stayest to bring the ground of thy comfort with thee, and

not

236 Against Spiritual Wickedness.

not to receive it purely from Christ : O, how much better were
it if thou wouldst say, with David, Though my house (my heart)
be fwt so with God^ yet he hath made with me a covenant or-
dered in all things and sure ; and this is all my desire, all my
confidence : Christ I oppose to all ray sins, Christ to all my
wants ; he is my all in all, and all above all. Indeed all those
complaints of our wants and weaknesses, so far as they withdraw
our hearts from relying cheerfully on Christ, they are but the
language of pride hankering after the covenant of works. O,
'tis hard to forget our mother-tongue, which is so natural to us ;
Jabour therefore to be sensible of it, how grievous it is to the spi-
rit of Christ. What would a husband say, if his wife, instead of
expressing her love to him, and delight in him, should, day and
night, do nothing but weep and cry to think of her former hus-
band that is dead ? The law (as a covenant) and Christ are
compared to two husbands, Rom. vii. 3. Ye are become dead to
the law by the body of Christy that ye should be married to anO"
ther^ even to him who is raised from the dead. Now thy sorrow
for the defect of thy own righteousness, when it hinders thy re-
joicing in Christ, is but a whining after thy other husband : And
this Christ cannot but take unkindly; that thou art not as well
pleased to lie in the bosom of Christ, and have thy happiness
from him, as with your old husband the law.

II. A self-applauding pride, when the heart is secretly lift-
ed up, so as to promise itself acceptation at God's hand, for any
duty or act of obedience it performs, and doth not, when most
assisted, go out of his own actings, to lay the weight of his ex-
pectation entirely upon Christ ; every such glance of the soul's
eye is adulterous, yea, idolatrous. If thy heart. Christian, at
any time be secrety enticed (as Job saith of another kind of
idolatry), or thy mouth doth kiss thy hand; that is, dote so far
on thy own duties or righteousness, as to give them this inward
worship of thy confidence and trust, this is a great iniquity in-
deed : For, in this thou deniest the God that is above, who hath
determined thy faith to another object. Thou comest to open
heaven-gate with the old key, when God hath set on a new lock.
Dost thou not acknowledge that thy first entrance into thy justi-
fied state was of pure mercy ? Thou wast justified freely by his
grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christy Rom. vii.
24. And whom art thou beholden to, now thou art reconciled,
for thy further acceptance in every duty or holy action ? to thy
duty, thy obedience, thyself, or Christ ? The same apostle will
tell you, Rom. v. 2. By whom we have access by faith into this
gra>ce wherein we stand. If Christ should not lead thee in, and
all thou doest, thou art sure to find the door shut upon thee ;
there is no more place for desert now thou art gracious, than

wh§n

Against Sptrituat Wickedntss, 23^

when tlioa wast graceless, Rom. i. 17. The righteousness of God
ts revealed from faith to faiths for the just shaH live by faith, —
We are not only made alive by Christ, but we live by Christ :
Faith sucks in continual pardoning, assisting, comforting mercy
from him. as the lungs suck in the air. Heaven-way is paved
with grace and mercy to the end.

Use, Be exhorted, above all, to watch against this plea of
satan ; beware thou restest not in thy own righteousness : Thoa
etandest under a tottering wall ; the very cracks thou seest in
thy graces and duties when best, bid thee stand off, except thoii
wouldst have them fall on thy head ; the greatest step to heaven,
is out of our own doors, over our own threshold. It hath cost
many a man his life when his house was on fire, a greediness to
save some of the stuff, which venturing among the flames to pre-
serve, they have perished themselves ; more have lost their souls
by thinking to carry some of their own stuff with them to hea-
ven : Such a good work or duty, while they, like lingering X«ot,
have been loth to leave in point of confidence, have themselves
perished. O, sirs, come out, come out, leave what is your own
in the fire, fly to Christ naked, he hath clothing for you better
than your own : Poor to Christ, and he hath gold not like tliine,
which will consume and be found drossy in the fire, but such as
hath in the fiery trial passed in God's righteous judgment for purje
and full weight. You cannot be found in two places at once :
choose whether you Will be found in your own righteousness or
in Christ's. Those who have had more to shew than thyself,
have thrown away all, and gone a begging to Christ. Eead Paul's
inventory, Phil. iii. what he had, what he did, yet all dross and
loss : Give him Christ, and take the rest who will. So Job, as
holy a man as trod on earth, (God himself being witness,) yet
saith, Though I were perfect^ yet would I not know my own soul^
I would despise my life^ Job ix. 21» He had acknowledged his
imperfections before ; now he makes a supposition (indeed quod
mm est supponendum^ : If I were perfect, yet would I not know
^ my own soul : I would not entertain any such thoughts as should
puff me up into such a confidence of my holiness, as to make it
my plea with God. Like to our common phrase, we say, Such
a one hath excellent parts ; but he knows it, that is, he is proud
of it. Take heed of knowing thy own grace in this sense : Thou
canst not give a greater wound both to thy grace and comfort,
than by thus priding thyself in it.

SECT. III. — First, Thy grace cannot thrive so long as thou
thus restest on it. A legal spirit is no friend to grace ; nav, a
bitter enemy against it, as appeared by the Pharisees in Christ's
time. Grace comes not by the law, but by Christ ; thou mayest
stand long enough by it, before thou gettest any life of grace into

thy

238 Against Spiritual Wickedness.

thy soul, or further life into thy grace. If thou wouldst have
this, thou must set thyself uuder Christ's wings by faith ; from
his spirit in the gospel alone comes this kindly natural heat to
hatch thy soul to the life of holiness, and increase what thou hast ;
and thou canst not come under Christ's wings, till thou comest
from under the shadow of the other, by renouncing all expecta-
tion from thy own works and services. You know Reuben's
curse, that he should not excel, because he went up into his fa-
ther's bed ; when other tribes increased, he stood at a little num-
ber. By trusting in thy own works, thou dost worse by Christ ;
and shalt thou excel in grace ? Perhaps some of you have beea
long professors, and yet come to little growth in love to God, hu-
mility, heavenly-mindedness, mortification : And 'tis worth the
digging to see what lies at the root of your profession, whether
there be not a legal principle that hath too much acted you. —
Have you not thought to carry all with God from your duties
and services, and too much laid up your hopes in your own act-
ings ? Alas, this is as so much dead earth, which must be thrown
out, and gospel principles laid in the room thereof: Try but this
course, and see whether the spring of thy grace will not come oa
apace. David gives an account how he came to stand and flou-
rish, when some, that were rich and mighty, on a sudden withered
and came to nothing, io, (saith he) this is the man that made
not God his strength^ but trusted in the abundance of his riches*
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God ; 1 trust
in the merci/ of God for ever^ Psal. lii, 7, 8. While others trust
in the riches of their own righteousness and services, and make
not Christ their strength, do thou renounce all, and trust in the
mercy of God in Christ, and thou shalt be like a green olive,
when they fade and wither.

Secondly, Christian, you will not thrive in true comfort, so
long as you rest in any inherent work of grace, and do not stand
clear of your own actings and righteousness. Gospel comfort
springs from a gospel root, which is Christ, Phil. iii. 3. We are
the circumcision^ which worship God in the spirit^ and rejoice
in Christ Jesus^ and have no confidence in the flesh. Now, a
soul that rests on any holiness in himself, he grafts his comfort
upon himself, not Christ ; he sucks his own breast, not Christ's,
and so makes Christ a dry nurse : and what comfort can grow on
that dry tree ? The spirit is our comforter, as well as our. teacher
and counsellor. Now^, as the spirit, when he teacheth, comes not
with any new or strange truth, but takes of Christ's own (what
he finds in the word), so where he comforts, he takes of Christ's
own, his righteousness, not our own : Christ is the matter and
ground of his comfort ; all cordials are but Christ distilled, and
made up in several promises ; his acting, not ours ; he doth not

say,

Jgainst Spiritual Wickedness. 239

say. Soul, r^oice, thou art holy ; but, Soul, triumph, Christ is
righteous, and is the Lord ofth^ righteousness : Not, Soul, thou
pray est sweetly, fear not ; but. Thou hast an Advocate with the
Father, Christ the rigliteous. So that the first step to the re-
ceiving of comfort from the Spirit, is to send away all comforters
of our own. As in learning of the Spirit, he that will be taught
by him, must first become a fool, that is, no way lean to his own
understanding ; so he that would be comforted, must first be

emptied of all self-supports, must not lean to his own comforts

As a physician first bids his patient cast off all others he hath
tampered with ; he asks what physic he hath had from them,
takes off their plasters, and throws away their physic, and goes
about the work anew : so the spirit, when he comes to comfort a
poor soul, first persuades the soul to send away all its own phy-
sicians : Oh, saith the soul, I have been in the hand of such a
duty, such a course of obedience, and have thought sure now I
fihali be well, and have comfort now I do this duty, set Upon such
a holy course. Well, saith the Spirit, if you will have me do
any thing, these must all be dismissed in ^point of confidence.—
Now, and not till now, is the soul a subject fit to receive the
Spirit's comforts. And therefore, friends, as you love your in-
ward peace, beware what vessel you draw your comfort from. —
Grace is fini(«, and so cani^ot afford much : 'tis leaking, and so
cannot hold long ; thou drinkest in a riven dish, that hast thy
comfort from thy grace. 'Tis mixed, and so weak ; and weak
grace cannot give strong consolation ; and such thou needest,
especially in strong conflicts. Nay, lastly, thy comfort which
thou drawest from it is stolen, thou dost not come honestly by it ;
and stolen comforts will not thrive with thee. O ! what folly is
it for the child to play the thief for that which he may freely
and more fully have from his father, who giveth and reproacheth
not ! That comfort which thou wouldst filch out of thy own
righteousness and duties, behold it is laid up for thee in Christ,
from whose fulness thou mayest carry as much as thy faith can
hold, and none to check thee : yea, the more thou improvest
Christ for thy comfort, the more heartily welcome ; we are bid to
open our mouth tcidt, and he will fill it,

CHAP. XI.

The Third Kind of Spiritual Pride^ viz. Pride of Privileges.

npHE third kind of pride (spiritual pride I mean) is pride of
^ privileges ; with which these wicked spirits labour to blow
up the Christian. To name three :

. * First,

2*40 Against Spiritual Wickedness*

First, When God calls a person to some eminent place, or
nseth him to do some special piece of service.

Secondly, When God honours a saint to suffer for his truth or
cause.

Thirdly, When God flows in with more than ordinary mani-
festations of his love, and fills the soul with joy and comfort.—
These are privileges not equally dispensed to all ; and therefore,
where they are, satan takes the advantage of assaulting such with
pride.

SECT. I. — First, When God calls a person to some eminent
place, or useth him to do some special piece of service. Indeed
it requires a great measure of grace to keep the heart low,
when the man stands high. The apostle, speaking how a mi-
nister of the gospel should be qualified, 1 Tim. iii. 6. saith, he
must not be a novice, or a young convert, lest he should he lift
up with pride, a/nd fall into the condemnation of the devil. As
if he had said, This calling is honourable ; if he be not well bal-
lasted with humility, a little gust from satan will toss him into
this sin. The seventy that Christ first sent out to preach the
gospel, and prevailed so miraculously over satan ; even these,
while they trod on the serpent's head, he turned again, and had
like to have stung them with pride ; which our Saviour perceived,
when they returned in triumph, and told what great miracles
they had wrought ; and therefore he takes them ofFthat glorying,
lest it should degenerate into vain glory, and bids them not re-
joice that devils were subject to them^ hut rather that their
flames were written in heaven. As if he had said. It is not the
honour of your calling, and success of your ministry will save
you ; there shall be some cast to the devils, who shall then say,
Xjord, Lord, in thy name we have cast out devils ! And there-
fore value not yourselves by tha.t ; but rather evidence to your
souls that ye are of mine elect ones, which shall stand you more-
in stead at the great day than all this.

SECT. II. — A second privilege is, when God honours a per-
son to suffer for his truth; this is a great privilege. Unto you
, it is given, not only to believe, hut to suffer for his sake. God
doth not use to give worthless gifts to his saints ; there is some
preciousness in it, which a carnal eye cannot see. Faith, you
will say, is a great gift, but perseverance greater; without which,
faith would be little worth ; and perseverance in suffering, this
above both is honourable. This made John Careless, our English
martyr, (who, though he died not at the stake, yet in prison for
Christ,) say. Such an hour it is as angels are not permitted to
have, therefore God forgive me mine unthankfulness. Now,
when satan cannot scare a soul from prison, yet then he will la-
bour to puff him up in prison ; when he cannot make him pity

himself,

Against Spiritual Wickedness* 241

himself, then he will flatter him till he prides in himself. Afflic-
tion from God exposeth to impatience ; for God, to pride. And
therefore, Christians, labour to fortify yourselves against thifr
temptation of satan : How soon you may be called to suffering
work, you know not ; such clouds oft are not long arising. Now
to keep thy heart humble when thou art honoured to suffer for the
truth, consider.

First, Though thou dost not deserve those sufferings at man's
hand (thou canst and mayest in that regard glory in thy inno-
cency, thou sufFerest not as an evil doer), yet thou canst not but
confess it is a just affliction from God, in regard of sin in thee i
and this methinks should heep thee humble. The same suflTer-
ing may be martyrdom in regard of man, and yet a fatherly chas-
tising for sin in regard of God. None suffered without sin, but
Christ ; and therefore none may glory in them, but he ; Christ
in his own, we in his : God forbid that I should glory^ save in the
cross of Christy Gal. v. This kept Mr Bradford humble in his
sufferings for the truth ; none more rejoiced in them, and blessed
God for them, yet none more humble under them than he. And
what kept him thus humble ? Read his godly letters, and you
shall find almost in all how he bemoans his sins, and the sins of
the Protestants under the reign of king Edward : Jt was time
(saith he) for God to put his rod into the Papists^ hands ; ue
toere grown so proud, formal^ unfruitful ^yeUy to loath and despise
the means of grace , when we enjoyed the liberty thereof ; and
therefore God hath brought the wheel of persecution on us. A»
he looked at the honour, to make him thankful ; so to sin, t*
keep him humble.

Secondly, Consider who bears thee up, and carries thee through
thy suflferings for Christ. Is it thy grace, or his, that is sufl[icient
for such a work ? Thy spirit, or Christ's, by which thou speakest,
when called to bear witness to the truth ? How comes it to pasa
thou art a sufferer, and not a persecutor ; a confessor, and not a
denier ; yea, a betrayer of Christ and his gospel ? This thou
owest to God ; he is not beholden to thee, that thou wouldst
part with estate, credit, or life itself for his sake : if thou hadst
a thousand lives; thou wouldst owe them all to him. But thott
art beholden to God exceedingly, that he will call for these in this
way ; which has such an honour and reward attending it : he
might have suffered thee to live in thy lusts, and at last to suffer
the loss of all these for them. Oh, how many die at the gallows
as martyrs in the devil's cause, for felonies, rapes, and mur-
ders ! Or he might withdraw his grace, and leave thee to thy
own cowardice and unbelief, and then thou wouldst soon shew
thyself in thy colours. The stoutest champions for Christ have
been taught how weak they are, if Christ steps aside. . Some that

have

145 Against Spiritual Wickedness *^

have given great testimony of their faith and resolution in Christ^s
cause, even to come so near dying for his name, as to give them-
selves to be bound to the stake, and fire to be kindled upon
them, yet then their hearts have failed : as that holy man, Mr
Benbridge, in our English Martyrology, who thrust the faggots
from him, and cried out, I recant! 1 recant I Yet this man,
when reinforced in his faith, and endued with power from above,
was able within the space of a week after that sad foil, to die at
the stake cheerfully : ^ui pro imhis mortem semel vicit^ semper
iri nobis vincit — He that once overcame death for us, is he that
always overcomes death in us. And who should be thy song, but

he that is thy strength ? Applaud not thyself, but bless him

It is one of God's names, he is called the glort^ of his people's
strength^ Psal. Ixxxix. 17. The more thou gloriest in God that
gives thee strength to suffer for him, the less thou wilt boast of
thyself: a thankful heart and a proud cannot dwell together iu
one bosom.

Thirdly, Consider what a foul blot pride gives to all thy suf-
ferings, where it is not bewailed and resisted ; it alters the case.
The old saying is, that 'tis not the punishment, but the cause
makes the martyr : We may safely say further, it is not barely
the cause, but the sincere frame of the heart in suffering for a
good cause, that makes a man a martyr m God's sight. Though
thou shouldst give thy body to be burnt, if thou hast not an hum-
ble heart of a sufferer for Christ, thou turnest merchant for thy-
self. Thou deniest but one self, to set up another ; runnest the
hazard of thy estate and life to gain some applause (may be), and
rear up a monument to thy honour in the opinions of men ; thou
dost no more in this case than a soldier, who, for name of va-
lour, will venture into the mouth of death and danger ; only thou
shewest thy pride under a religious disguise; but that helps it
not, but makes it the worse. If thou wilt in thy sufferings be a
sacrifice acceptable to God, thou must not only be ready to offer
up thy life for liis truth, but sacrifice thy pride also, or else thou
mayest tumble out of one fire into another ; suffer here from
man, as a seeming champion for the gospel, and in another world
from God, for robbing him of his glory in thy sufferings.

SECT. III. — A third privilege is. When God flows in with
more than ordinary manifestations of his love ; then the Christian
is in danger of having his heart secretly lift up in pride. Indeed
ihe genuine and natural effect, which such discoveries of divine
love have on a gracious soul, is to humble it. The sight of mercy
increaseth the sense of sin, and that sense dissolves the soul kind-
ly into sorrow, as we see in Magdalen. The heart which pos-
sibly was hard and frozen in the shade, will give and thaw in the
sun-shine of love, and so long all pride is hid from the creature's

eye.

Against Spiritudl WwJcedness, 243

eye. Then (saith God, Ezek. xxxvi. 31 .) ye shall remember
your ways and your doings ^ that were not goody and shall loath
.yow'selves in your own sights &c. And when shall this be, but
when God would save them from all their uncleanness ? as ap-
pears, ver. 25: yet notwithstanding this, there remain such
dregs of corruption unpurged out of the best, that satau finds it
not impossible to make the manifestations of God's love an occa-
sion of pride to the Christian ; and truly God lets us see our
proneness to this sin in the short stay he makes, when he comes
with any greater discoveries of his love. The Comforter, 'tis
true, abides for ever in the saint's bosom ; but his joys, they come,
and are gone again quickly. They are as exceedings, with which
he feasts the believer, but the cloth is soon drawn ; and why so ?
but because we cannot bear them for our every-day food. A
short interview of heaven, and a vision of love now and then upon
the mount of an ordinance or affliction, cheer the spirits of droop-
ing Christians, who, might they have leave to build tabernacles
there, and dwell under a constant shine of such manifestations^
would be prone to forget themselves, and think they were lords
of their own comforts. If holy Paul was in danger of falling into
this distemper of pride from his short rapture (to prevent which,
God saw it needful to let him blood with a thorn in the flesh),
would not our blood much more grow too rank, and we too crank
and wanton, if we should feed long on such luscious food ? And
therefore, if ever. Christian, thou hadst need to watch, then is
the time when comforts abound, and God dandles thee most oa
the knee of his love, when his face shines with clearest mani-
festations, lest this sin of pride (as a thief in the candle) should
waste away thy joy. To prevent which, thou shouldst do well,
first, to look that thou measurest not thy grace by thy comfort,
lest so thou beest led into a false opinion that thy grace is strong,
because thy comforts are so. Satan will be ready to help for-
ward such thoughts as a fit medium to lift thee up, and slacken
thy care in duty for the future. Such discoveries do indeed bear
witness to the truth of thy grace, but not to the degree and mea-
sure of it : The weak child, may be, yea, is oftener in the lap
than the strong. Secondly, do not so much applaud thyself in
thy present comfort, as labour to improve it for the glory of God.
Upf and eat (saith the angel to the prophet), because the journey
is too great for thee* The manifestations of God's love are to
lit us for our work. It is one thing to rejoice in the light of our
comfort, and another to go forth in the power of the spirit com-
forting us (as giants refreshed with this wine) to run our race of
duty and obedience with more strength and alacrity. He shews
his pride that spends his time in telling his money merely to see
how rich he is ^ but he his wisdom that lays out his money, and

Q ' trades

24^4/ Against Spiritual WickeJnes^^

trades with it. The boaster of his comforts wiJl lose what he
hath, when he that improves his comforts in a fuller trade of
duty, shall add more to what he hath. Thirdly, Remember thou
dependest on God for the continuance of thy comfort. They are
not the smiles thou hadst yesterday can make thee joyous to-
day, any more than the bread thou didst then eat can make thee
strong without more ; thou needest new discoveries for new com-
forts ; Let God hide his face, and thou wilt soon lose the sight,.
and forget the taste of what thou even now hadst. It is beyond
our skill or power to preserve those impressions of joy, and com-
fortable apprehensions of God's favour on our spirit, which some-
times we lind ; as God's presence brings those, so when he goes
he carries them away with him, as the setting sun doth the day^
We would laugh heartily at him, who, when the sun shines in at
his window, should think by shutting that, to imprison the sun-
beams in his chamber ; and dost thou not shew as much folly,
who thinkest, because thou now hast comfort, thou therefore shalt
never be in darkness of spirit more ? The believer's comfort is
like Israel's manna ; it is not like our ordinary bread and pro-r
vision we buy at market, and lock up in our cup- boards, where
we can go to it when we will ; no, it is rained as that was from
heaven. Indeed God provided for them after this sort, to humble
them, Deut. viii. 16. Who fed thee in the wilderness with Vianuttf
which thy fathers knew not^ that he might humble thee. It was
not suchrmeau food because that God is said to humble them, for
it was delicious food, therefore called angeW food^ Psal. Ixxviii,
25. (such as, if angels did eat, might serve them) ; but the man-,
ner of the dispensing it, from hand to mouth, every day their por-r
tion and no more, so that God kept the key of their cupboard, thcjf
stood to his immediate allowance : and thus God communicates
our .spiritual comforts for the same end to humble us. So much
for this second sort of spiritual wickedness.

I had thought to have instanced in some other, as hypocrisy,
unbelief, morality ; but possibly the subject being general, what
I have already said may be thought but a digression, and that too
long.

I shaU therefore conclude this branch of Spiritual Wickedness^
in a word to those who are yet in a natural and uusanctiiied state,
which is to stir them up, from what I have said concerning Sa-
tan's assaulting believers with such temptations, to consider seri-
ously, how that Satan's chief design against them also lies in the
same sins. These are the wickednesses he labours to ingulph you
in above all others. If ever you perish, it will be by the hand
of these sins. It is your seared conscience, blind mind, and in-
dolent impenitent heart, will be your undoing, if you miscarry
finally. Other sins, the devil koowS; are preparatory to these,

and

Against Spiti'tucU Wickedness, ' 245

and therefore he draws thee into them to bring thee into these.
Two waya they prepare a way to spiritual sins. First, as they
iiaturallv dispose the sinner to them ; it is the nature of sin to
blind the mind, stupify the conscience, and harden the heart, as
is implied, Heh. iii. 13. Lest t/our heart be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. As the feet of the travellers beat the
highway hard, so does walking in carnal gross sins the heart ;
they benumb the conscience, so that in time the sinner loses his
feeling, and can carry his lusts in his heart, as Bedlams their pins
in the very flesh without pain or remorse. Secondly, as they do
provoke God bj'^ a judiciary act to give them up to these sins,
JLam. iii. 65. Give them obstinacy of heart (so it is in the mar-
gin), thy Clause unto them. And when the devil hath got sinners
at this pass, then he hath them under lock and key. They are
the forerunners of damnation ; if God leave thy heart hard and
unbroken up, it is a sad sign he means not to sow the seed of
grace there. O sinners, pray (as he did request Peter for him)
that none of these things may come upon you ; which that they
may not, take heed thou rejectest not the offers he makes to
soften thee. God's hardening is a consequent of, and a punish-
ment for our hardening our hearts. It is most true what Prosper
saith : A man may lose temporals against his will, but not spi-
rituals \ God will harden none, damn none, against their will.

GHAP. XII.

Sheweth what the P^iize is which Believers wrestle against these
Principalities^ Powers y and Spiritual TVickednesses^for,

In High Places.

SECT. I TPHESE words contain the last branch in the

* description of our grand enemy, which have in
them some ambiguity, the adjective being only exprest in tho
original ; en tois epouraniais, that is, in heavenlies ; the phrase
being defective, our translators read it in high or heavenly places^
as if the apostle intended to set out the advantage of place which
this our enemy, by being above us, hath of us. Indeed this way
most interpreters go ; yet some both ancient and modern read the
words, not, lu heavenly places, but in heavenly things. JEn tois
^npouraniois (saith Oecumenius) is as much as if the apostle had
said, Emin pale ou peri mikron tinon^ alia uper ton en tois
epouraniois pragmaion-'^We wrestle not for small and trivial
things, but for heavenly, yea, for heaven itself^ and our adoptioa

^2 as

246 In High Places ; or

as he goes on. The same way Chrysostom carries it, in coelestu
bus,idestypro ccelestibus Dei. And after him Musculus, and
other modern writers. The reasons which are given for this in-
terpretation are weighty.

First, The word elsewhere indefinitely set down, is taken for
things, not places, Heb. viii. 5. Nay, one observes this word to
be used almost twenty times in the New Testament, and never
for any aerial place, but always for things truly heavenly and spi-
ritual ; the word indeed properly signifies super-ccelestial^ and,
if applied to places, would signify that where the devil never came
since his fall.

.. < Lastly, There seems no great argument to render satan formi-
dable by his being above us in place ; it is some advantage in-
deed to men to gain the hill, or be above their enemy in some
place of strength, but none at all to spirits ; but now take it of
things, and then it adds weight to all the other branches of the
description. We wrestle with principalities and powers, and spi-
ritual wickedness, and against all these, not for such toys and

. trifles as the earth affords, which are inconsiderable whether to
keep or lose, but for such as heaven holds forth : such an enemy,
and such a prize, make it matter of our greatest care how to ma-
nage the combat. The word thus opened, the note will be this :
SECT. II. — Doct, The chief prize for which we wrestle
against satan is heavenly. Or thus, satan's main design is to spoil
and plunder the Chrbtian of all that is heavenly. Indeed all the
Christian hath, or desires, as a Christian, is heavenly ; the world
is extrinsical, both to his being and happiness ; it is a stranger to
the Christian, and intermeddles not with his joy nor grief. Heap
all the riches and honours of the world upon a man, they will not
make him a Christian ; heap them upon a Christian, they will
not make him a be^tter Christian. Again, take them all away,
let every bird have his feather, when stript and naked he will
still be a Christian, and may be a better Christian. It was- a
notable speech of Erasmus, if spoken in earnest, and his wit were
not too quick for his conscience : He desired wealth and honour
no more than a feeble horse doth a heavy cloak-bag. And 1
think every Christian in his right temper would be of his mind.
Satan would do the saint little hurt, if he did bend his forces only
or chiefly against his outward enjoyments ; alas, the Christian
doth not value them, or himself by them ; this were as if one
should think to hurt a man by beating of his clothes when he
hath put them off. So far as the spirit of grace prevails in the
heart of a saint, he hath put off the world in the desire of it, and
enjoyment of it, so that these blows are not much felt ; and
therefore they are his heavenly treasures whicli are the booty
gatan waits for.

SECT.

In Heavenly Things, 247

SECT. III. — First, The Christian's nature is heavenly, boru
from above ; as Christ is the Lord from heaven, so all his off-
spring are heavenly and holy ; now satan's design is to debase
and deflower this ; it is the precious life of this new creature that
he haunts for ; he hath lost that beauty of holiness which once
shone so gloriously on his angelical nature ; and now, like a true
apostate, he endeavours to ruin that in the Christian, which he
hath lost himself. The seeds of this war are sown in the Chris-
tian's nature. You are holy ; that he cannot endure. Miles
feri faciem, was Caesar's speech, when to fight with the Roman
citizens, he bid his soldiers strike at their face : These citizens
(said he) love their beauty, mar that, and mar all. The soul is
the face whereon God's image is stamped : holiness is the beauty
of this face, which makes us indeed like God ; this satan knows
God loves, and the saint is chary of; and therefore he labours to
wound and disfigure this, that he may at once glory in the Chris-
tian's shame, and pour contempt upon God in breaking his image ;
and is it not worth engaging limb and life in battle against this
enemy, who would rob us of that which makes us like God him-
self? Have you forgot the bloody articles of peace that Nahasli
offered to the men of Jabesh-Gilead ? No peace to be had, ex-
cept they would let him thrust out their right eyes, and lay it for
a reproach upon all Israel ; which, how it was entertained, read
1 Sam. xi. 6. The face is not so deformed that hath lost its eye,
as the soul is that loseth its holiness ; and no peace to be expected
at Satan's hands, except he deprive bs of this ; methinks, at the
thought of this, the spirit of the Lord should come upon the
Christian, and his anger should be kindled much more against
this cursed spirit, than Saul's and the men of Israel was against
Nahash.

Secondly, The Christian's trade is heavenly ; the merchandize
he deals for is of the growth of that heavenly country, Phil. iii.
20. Our conversation is in heaven. Every man's conversation
•is suitable to his calling; he whose trade is heavenly, follows
that close. Mvery nian follows his own business^ the apostle
tells us. You may possibly find a tradesman out of his shop now
and then ; but he is as a fish out of the water, never in his ele-
ment till he be in his calling again. Thus when the Christian
is about the world, and the worldling about heavenly matters,
both are men out of their way, not right girt till they get into
their employment again. Now this heavenly trade is that whiclr
satan in an especial manner labours to stop. Could the Chris-
tian enjoy but a free trade with heaven a few years without mo-
lestation, he would soon grow a rich man, too rich indeed for
earth ; but what with losses sustained by the hands of this pirate
sataU} and also the wrong he receives by the treachery of some

Q 3 - in

248 In High Places ; or^

in his own bosom (tliat, like unfaithful servants, hold correspon-
dence with this robber^, he is kept but low in this life, and much
of his gains are lost. JVow the Christian's heavenly trade lies
either within doors or abroad: he can be free in neither; satan
is at his heels in both.

First, Within doors. This I may call his home-trade, which
is spent in secret between God and his own sonl ; here the Chris-
tian drives an unknown trade ; he is at heaven and home again,
richly laden in his thoughts with heavenly meditations, before the
world knows wherc he hath been. Every creature he sees is a
text for his heart to raise some spiritual matters and observations
from : every sermon he hears cuts him out work to make up and
enlarge upon when he is alone. Every providence is as wind to
his sails, and sets his heart a-moving in some heavenly affection
or other, suitable to the occasion. One while he is wrapped up
with joy in the consideration of mercy, another while melted intt>
godly sorrow from the sense of his sins ; sometimes exalting God
in his praises, anon abasing himself before God for his own vile-
ness. One while he is at the breast of the covenant, milking out
the consolations of the promises ; another while working his
heart into an holy awe and fear of the threatenings. Thus the
Christian walks aloft, while the base worldling is licking the dust
below. One of these heavenly pearls which the Christian trades
for, is more worth than what the worldling gets with all his sweat
and travel in his whole life. The Christian's feet stand where
other men's heads are : he treads on the moon, and is clothed
with the sun : he looks down On earthly men (as tjne from an
high hill doth upon those that live in some fen or moor), and sees
them buried in a fog of carnal pleasures and profits, while he
breathes in a pure heavenly air, but yet not so high as to be fi^ee
from all storms and tempests ; many a sad gust he hath from sin
and satan without I What else mean those sad complaints and
groans which come from the children of God, that their hearts
are so dead and so dull, their hearts so roving and unfixed in duty,
many times so wicked and filthy, that they dare hardly tell what
they are, for fear of staining their own lips, and offending the
ears of others by naming them ! Surel}^ the Christian finds it in
his heart to will and desire he could meditate, pray, hear, and live
after another sort than this, doth he not ? Yes, I durst be his
surety he doth. But so long as there is a devil tempts, and we
continue within his walk, it will be thus more or less : as fast as
we labour to clear the spring of our hearts, he will be labouring
to muddle or stop it again : so that we have two works to do at
once, to perform a dut)^, and watch him that opposeth us ; trowel
and sword both in our hands. They must work hard indeed,

who

tn TTeavenli/ Un'tigs, 249

who liave others continually ^ndeavonnng to pull down, as thejr
"are labouring to rear up the building.

Secondly, That part of the Christian's trade which lies abroad,
is heavenly also. Take a Christian in his relations, calling, neigh-
bourhood, he is a heavenly trader in all : the great business of
his life is to be doing or receiving some good : that company is
not for hira, which will neither give nor take this. What should
a merchant do where there Is no buying nor selling ? Every one
labours (as his calling is) to seat himself where business is thickest,
and he is likely to have the most takings. The Christian (where
he may choose) takes such in relations near to himself (husband,
wife, servants) as may suit with his heavenly tiade, and not such
as will be a pull-back to hira : he falls in with the holiest persons,
as his dearest acquaintance: if there be a saint in the town
where he lives, he will find him out, and this shall be the man he
ivlll consort with ; and in his conversation with these and all
else, his chief work is for heaven ; his heavenly principle within
inclines him to it. Now this alarms hell : What, not contented
to go to heaven himself, but by his holy example, gracious
speeches, sweet counsels, seasonable reproofs, will be trading with
others, and labour to carry them along with him also ? This
brings the lion fell and mad out of his den : such, to be sure, shall
find the devil in their way to oppose them. Iieotdd have come
(saith Paul), but satan hindered me. He that will avouch God,
and let it appear by the tenor of his conversation that he trades
for him, shall have enemies enough, if the devil can help him to such.
Thirdly, The Christian's hopes are all heavenly ; he longs not
after any thing the woHd hath to give him. Indeed he would
think himself the most miserable man of all others, if here were
all he couid make of his religion. No, it is heaven and eternal
life which he expects ; and though he be so poor as not to be
able to make a will of a groat, yet he counts himself a greater
heir, than if he were child to the greatest prince, on earth. This
inheritance he sees by faith, and can rejoice in the hope of the
glory which it will bring him. The masquery and cheating glorj^
of the great Ones of this world, move him not to envy their
fancied pomp; but when on the dunghill himself, he can forget
his owp present sorrows to pity them in all their bravery, knowing
that within a few days the cross will be off his back, and the
crowns off their heads together ; their portion will be spent when
he shall come to receive all his. These things entertain him with
such joy, that they will not suffer him to acknowledge himself
miserable, when others think him, and the devil tells him he is
such. This, this torments the very f^oul of the devil, to see the
Christian under sail for heaven, filled with the sweet hope of
l;iis joyful entertainment when he conies there; and therefore he

Q 1 raisctli

250 In High Places; ot*

raiseth what storms and tempests he can, either to hinder his ar-
rival in that blessed port (which he most desires, and doth not
wholly despair of), or at least to make it a troublesome winter-
voyage, such as Paul's was, in which they suffered so much loss.
And this indeed very often he obtains in such a degree, that by
his violent impetuous temptations beating long upon the Chris-
tian, he makes him throw over much precious lading of his joys
and comforts ; yea, sometimes he brings the soul through stress of
temptation to think of quitting the ship, while for the present all
hope of being saved seems to be taken away. Thus you see what
we wrestle with devils for. We come to application,

SECT. IV. — Use 1. This is a word of reproof to four sorts of
persons.

First, To those that are so far from wrestling against satan for
this heavenly prize, that they resist the offer of it. Instead of
taking heaven by force, they keep it off by force. How long
hath the Lord been crying in our streets, Repent^ for the king-
dom of heaven is at hand ! How long have gospel-offers rung in
our ears ! And yet to this day many devil-deluded souls furi-
ously drive on towards hell, and will not be persuaded back, who
refuse to be called the children of God, and choose rather the
devil's bondage than the glorious liberty with which Christ would
make them free, esteeming the pleasures of sin for a season greater
treasures than the riches of heaven. It is storied of Cato (who
was Caesar's bitter enemy), that when he saw Caesar prevail, ra-
ther than fall into his hand and stand to his mercy, he laid violent
hands on himself ; which Caesar hearing of, passionately broke
out in these words : O Cato, cur itivtdisti mihi salutem tuam ?
O Cato, why didst thou envy me the honour of saving thy life ?
And do not many walk as if they grudged Christ the honour of
saving their souls ? What other account can you give, sinners, of
rejecting his grace ? Are not heaven and happiness things de-
sirable, and to be preferred before sin and misery ? Why then
do you not embrace them ? Or are they the worse, because they
come swimming to you in the blood of Christ ? Oh how ill must
Christ take it to be thus used, when he comes on such a gracious
embassy ! May he not say to thee, as once he did to those offi-
cers sent to attack him. Do you come out against me as a thief
with swords and staves 9 If he be a thief, it is only in this, that
he would steal your sins from you, and leave heaven in their room.
Oh, for the love of God, think what you do : it is eternal life you
put away from you, in doing of which, i/ou judge yourselves un-
worthy of it, Acts xiii. 46.

Secondly, It reproves those who are satan's instruments to rob
souls of what is heavenly. Among thieves there are some ye call
S€tter$y who inquire where a booty is to be had 5 which when

they

• Ln Heavenly Things, 251

they have found, and know such a one travels with a charge about
him, then they employ some other to rob him, and are themselves
not seen in the business. The devil is the grand setter j he ob-
serves the Christian how he walks, what place and company he
frequents, what grace or heavenly treasure he carries in his
bosom ; which when he hath done, he hath his instruments for
the purpose to execute his design. Thus he considered the ad-
mirable graces of Job, and casts about how he might rob him of
his heavenly treasure : and who but his wife and friends must do
this for him ? (well knowing that his tale would receive credit
frnm their mouths). O friends, ask your consciences whether
you have not done the devil some service of this kind in your
days. Possibly you have a child or servant who once looked to-
wards heaven, but your brow-beating of them scared them back^
and now (may be) they are as carnal as you would have them :
or possibly thy wife, before acquainted with thee, as full of life in
the ways of God ; but since she hath been transplanted into thy
cold soil, what by thy frothy speeches and unsavoury conversa-
tion, at best thy worldliness and formality, she is now both de-
cayed in her graces, and a loser in her comforts. O man, what
an indictment will be brought against thee for this at God's bar !
You would come off better, were it for robbing one of his money
and jewels, than of his graces -and comforts.

Thirdly, It reproves the woeful negligence most shew in la-
bouring for this heavenly prize. None but would be glad their
souls might be saved at last ; but where is the man or woman that
makes it appear by their vigorous endeavour, that they mean in
earnest ? What warlike preparation do they make against satan,
who lies between them and home ? Where are their arms, where
their skill to lise them, their resolution to stand to them, and con-
sciouable care to exercise themselves daily in the use of them ?
Alas, this is a rarity indeed, not to be found in every house where
the profession of religion is hung out at the door ! If wishing
would bring them to heaven, then they may come thither ; but as
for this wrestling and fighting, this making religion our business,
they are as far from these, as at last they are like to be from
heaven. They are of his mind, in Tully, who in a summer's day,
as he lay indolently on the gaass, would say, O that this were to
work, that I could lie here and do my day-labour ! Thus many
melt and waste their lives in sloth, and say in their hearts, O
that this were the way to heaven ! but will use no means to fur-
nish themselves with grace for such an enterprize. I have read
of a great Prince in Germany, invaded by a more potent enemy
than himself, yet, from his friends and allies, who flocked in to his
help, he soon had a good army, but no money (as he said) to pay
them 5 but the truth is, he was loth to part with it j for which.

252 In High maces s or

some ill 'discontent went away, others did not vigorousl}^ attend
his business, and so he was soon beaten out of his kingdom, and
his coffers (when his palace was rifled) were found full of trea-
sure. Thus he was ruined, as some sick men die, because un-
willing to be at cost to pay the physician. It will add to the
misery of damned souls, when they shall have leisure enough to
consider what they have lost in losing God ; to remember what
means, offers, and talents they once bad towards the obtaining of
everlasting life, but had not a heart to us© them.

Fourthly, It reproves those who make a great bustle and noise
10 religion, who are forward in profession, very busy to meddle
with the strictest duties, as if heaven had monopolized their whole
hearts : but like the eagle, when they tower highest, their prey
is below, where their eye is also. Such a generation there ever
was and will be, that mingle themselves with the saints of God,
who pretend heaven, and have their outward garb faced and
fringed, as it were, with heavenly speeches and duties, while
their hearts are lined with hypocrisy, whereby they deceive
others, and most of all themselves j such may be the world's
saints, but devils in Christ's account. Have not I chosen twelve 9
one of you is a devil. And truly, of all devils, none so bad as the
professing devil, the preaching, praying devil. O, sirs, be plain-
hearted ; religion is as tender as your eye, it will not be jested
with : remember the vengeance which fell on Belshazzar, while
he caroused in the bowels of the sanctuary. Religion and the
duties of it are consecrated things, not made for thee to drink thy
iusts out of. God hath remarkably appeared in discovering and
confounding such as have prostituted sacred things to worldly
ends. Jezebel fasts and prays, the better to devour Naboth's
vineyard, but was devoured by it. Absalom was as sick till he
had ravished his father's crown, as his brother Amnon till he had
done the like to his sister ; and to hide his treason, he puts on a
religious cloak, and therefore begs leave to go and pay his vows
in Hebron, when he had another game in chace j and did he not
fall by the hand of his hypocrisy ? Of all men, their judgment
comes on with most speed, who silver over worldly or wicked en-
terprizes with heavenly semblances. Of this gang were those,
2 Pet. ii. 3. concerning whom the apostle saith. Their damnO'-
thon slumbers not ; and those, Ezek. xiv. 7, 8. to whom God
saith, I the Lord will answer htm by myself atid I will set my
face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb^
and I will cut him offfrorn the midst of my people j and ye shajl
hnow that I am the Lord,

Use 2. Secondly, Try whether they be heavenly things or
earthly thou chiefly pursuest. Certainly, friends, we need not be
so ignorant of our souls' st^te and affairs, did we oftener converse

with

In Heavenlif Things. 2S3

ift'f^ our thoughts, and observe the haunts of our hearts. We
yOoo can tell what dish pleaseth our palate best ; and may you
not tell whether heaven or earth be the niost savoury meat to
your souls ? And if you should ask how you might know whether
heaven be the pize you chiefly desire, I would put you only upon
this double trial :

First, Art thou uniform in thy pursuit ? Dost thou contend
for heaven, and that which leads to heaven also ? Earthly things
God is pleased to retail ; all have some, none have all : But in
heavenly treasure he will not break the whole piece, and cut it
into remnants. If thou wilt have heaven, thou must have Christ ;
if Christ, thou must like his service as well as his sacrifice; no
holiness, no happiness. If God would cut off so much as would
serve men's turns, he would have customers enough: Balaam
himself likes one end of the piece : he would die like a righteous
mmi,, though live like a wizard, as he was ; no, God will not
deal wjth such pedling merchants : that man alone is for God,
and God for him, who will come roundly up to God's offer, and
take all off his hands. One fitly compares holiness and happi-
ness to those two sisters, Leah and Rachel. Happiness, like
Rachel, seems the fairer (even a carnal heart may fall in love
with that) ; but holiness, like Leah, is the elder, and beautiful
also, though in this life it appears with some disadvantage, her
eyes being bleai^ed with tears of repentance, and her face fur-
rowed with the works of mortification : But this is the law of
that heavenly country. That the t/ounger sister must not be he^
stowed before the elder. We cannot enjoy fair Rachel, heaven
and happiness, except we first embrace tender-eyed Leah, holi-
ness, with ail her severe duties of repentance and mortification.
Now, sirs, how like you this method ? Art thou content to marry
Christ and his grace, and then (serving an hard apprenticeship
in temptations both of prosperity and adversity, enduring the
heat of the one, and the cold of the other) to wait till at last the
other be given into thy bosom ?

Secondly, If indeed heaven and heavenly things be the prize
thou wrest lest for, thou wilt discover a heavenly deportment of
heart even in earthly things. Wherever you meet a Christian, he
is going to heaven ; heaven is at the bottom of his lowest ac-
tions. Now observe thy heart in three particulars ; in getting,
in using, and in keeping earthly things, whether it be after a hea-
venly manner.

I. In getting earthly things. If heaven be thy chief prize,
then thou wilt be ruled bj'' a heavenly law in the gathering of
these. Take a carnal wretch, and what his heart is set on he
will have, though it be by hook or crook. A lie fits Gehazi's
mouth well enough, so he may fill his pockets by it. Jezebel

dares

254? In High Places; or

dares mock God, and murder an innocent man for an acre or two
of ground. Absalom, to be a king, what will he not do ? God's
fence is too low to keep a graceless heart in bounds when the
game is before him : but a soul that hath heaven in his eye, is
ruled by heaven's law ; he dares not step out of heaven's road to
take up a crown, as we see in David's carriage towards Saul. —
Indeed, in so doing, he should cross himself in his own grand de-
sign, which is the glory of God, and the happiness of his own soul
in enjoying of him ; upon these very terms the servants of God
have refused to be ricn and great in the world, when either of
these lay at stake : Moses threw his court-preferment at his
heels, refusing to he called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, —
Abraham scorned to be made rich by the king of Sodom, Gen.
xiv. 22. that he might avoid the suspicion of covetousness and
self-seeking ; it shall not be said auother day, that he came to
enrich himself with the spoil, more than to rescue his kinsmen. —
Nehemiah would not take the tax and tribute to maintain his
state, when he knew they w^ere a poor peeled people, because of
the fear of the Lord, Dost thou walk by this rule? Wouldst
thou gather no more estate or honour than thou mayest have with
God's leave, and will stand with thy hopes of heaven ? .

II. Dost thou discover a heavenly spirit in using these things ?

First, The saint improves his earthly things for an heavenly
end. Where layest thou up thy treasure ? Dost thou bestow it
on thy voluptuous paunch, thy hawks and thy hounds ; or lockest
thou it up in the bosom of Christ's poor members ? What use
makest thou of thy honour and greatness, to strengthen the hands
of the godly or the wicked ? and so of all thy other temporal en-
joyments. A gracious heart improves them for God ; when a
saint prays for these things, he hath an eye to some heavenly
end. If David prays for life, it is not that he may live, but live
and praise God^ Psal. cxix. 175. When he was driven from his
regal throne by the rebellious arms of Absalom, see what his de-
sire was and hope, 2 Sam. xv. 25. The king said unto Zadock^
Carry back the ark of God into the city : If I shall find favour
in the eyes of the Lord^ he will bring me again, and shew me
both it a^d his habitation, Mark, not shew me my croivn^ my
palace, but the ark^ the house of God.

Secondly, A gracious heart pursues earthly things with a holy
indifference, saving the violence and zeal of his spirit for the
things of heaven : he useth the former as if he used them not,
with a kind of non-attendance ; his head and heart is taken up
with higher matters, how he may please God, thrive in his grace,
enjoy more intimate communion with Christ in his ordinances ;
in these he spreads all his sails, plies all his oars, strains every
part and power. Thus we find David upon his full speed j My

soui

In Heavenly Things* 255

soul presseth hard after thee, Ixiii. And before the ark we find
hira dancing with all his might. Now a carnal heart is clean
contrary : his zeal is for the world, and his indifference in the
things of God ; he prays as if he did not pray, &c. he sweats in
his shop, but chills and grows cold in his closet : Oh how hard
to raise him up to the duty of God's worship, or to get him tojan
ordinance ! No weather shall keep him from the market ; rain,
blow, or snow, he goes thither : but if the church-path be but a
little wet, or the air somewhat cold, 'tis apology enough for him
if his pew be empty, Whea he is about any worldly business, he
is earnest at it, as the idolatrous smith in hammering of his image,
who (the prophet saith) workethit with the strength of his arms,
yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth, he drinketh not, and
is faint, Isa. xliv. 12. So zealous is the muckworm in his
worldly employments, that he will pinch his carcase, and deny
himself his repast in due season, to pursue that ; the kitchen there
shall wait on the shop : But in the worship of God, 'tis enough
to make him sick of the sermon, and angry with the preacher, if
he be kept beyond his hour ; here the sermon must give place to
the kitchen : for the man, for his pleasures and carnal pastime, he
tells no clock. at his sports, and knows not how the day goes;
when night comes, he is angry that it takes him off: But at any
heavenly work, O how is the man punished ! Time now hath
got leaden heels, he thinks ; all he does at a sermon is to tell the
clock, and see how the glass runs. If men were not willing to
deceive themselves, surely they might know which way their
heart goes, by the swift motion, or the hard tugging and slow
pace it stirs, as well as they know in a boat whether they row-
against the tide or with it.

Thirdly, The Christian useth these things with a holy fear,
lest earth should rob heaven, and his outward enjoyments preju-
dice his heavenly interest : he eats in fear, works in fear, rejoiceth
in his abundance with fear : as Job sanctified his children by of-
fering a sacrifice, out of a fear lest they had sinned ; so the Chris-
tian is continually sanctifying his earthly enjoyments by prayer,
that he may be delivered from the snare of them.

III. The Christian is heavenly in his keeping of earthly things.
The same heavenly law which he went by in getting, he observes
in holding them. As he dares not say he will be rich and ho-
nourable in the world, but if God will ; so neither that he will
hold what he hath ; he only keeps them while his heavenly
Father calls for them that at first gave them : if God will con-
tinue them to him, and entail them on his posterity too, he bles-
seth God, and so he desires to do also when he takes them away.
Indeed God's meaning in the great things of this world, which
sometimes he throws i\x upon the saints^ is chiefly to give them

the

256 In ll%h Places; or

the greatel* advantage of expressing their love to him^ in denying
them for his sake. God never intended by that strange provi-
dence in bringing Moses to Pharaoh's court, to settle him there
in worldly pomp and grandeur (a carnal heart indeed would have
expounded providence, and interpreted it as a fair occasion put
into his hands by God to have advanced himself into the throve,
which some say he might in time have done) ; but as an oppor-
tunity to make his faith and self-denial more eminently conspicu-
ous in throwing all these at his heels, for which he hath so ho-
nourable a remembrance among the Lord's worthies, Heb. xi. 24,
25. And truly a gracious soul reckons he cannot make so much
of his worldly interests any other way as by offering them up for
Christ's sake ; however that traitor thought Mary's ointment
might have been carried to a better market, yet no doubt that
good woman herself was only troubled that she had not one more
precious to pour on her dear Saviour's head. This makes the
Christian ever to hold the sacrificing knife at the throat of his
worldly employments, ready to offer them u{> when God calls;
overboard tney shall go, rather than hazard a wreck of faith or a
good conscience ; he sought them in the last place, and therefote
he will part with them in the first. Naboth will hazard the king's
anger (which at last cost him bis life), rather than sell an acre
or two of land which was his birth-right. The Christian will ex-
pose all he hath in this world to preserve his hopes for another.
Jacob, in his march towards Esau, sent his servants with his
flocks before, and came himself with his wives behind ; if he can
save any thing from his brother's rage, it shall be what he loves
best : If the Christian can save any thing, it shall be his soul,
his interest in Christ and heaven ; and then no matter if the rest
go : even then he can say, not as Esair to Jacob, I have a great
deal; but as Jacob to him, I have all. Gen. xxxiii, 9. 11. All
I want, all I desire, as David expresseth it, This is all inij saU
vation^ and all my desire^ 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. Now try whether
thy heart be tuned to this note. Does heaven give law to thy
earthly enjoyments ? Wouldst thou not keep thy honour, estate,
no, not life itself, to prejudice thy heavenly nature and hopes ?
Which wouldst thou chuse, if thou couldst not keep both, a whole
skin, or a sound conscience ? It was a strange answer, if true,
which, the historian saith, Henry V. gave to his father, who had
usurped the crown, and now dying, sent for this his son, to whom
he said, Fair son, take the crown (which stood on his pillow by
his head) ; but God knows how I came by it. To whom he an-
swered, I care not how you eame by it ; now 1 have it, I will
keep it as long as my sword can defend it. He that keeps earth
by wrong, cannot expect heaven by right,

CHAP.

Jm Heavenly Things. 25F

CHAP. XIII.

An ExhotiatiGn to the Pursuit of Heaven aaid Heavenli/

Things.

Use 3. 'yHIRDLT, Is it heaven and all that is heavenly that
* sataiy seeks to hinder us of ? Let this provoke us the
more earnestly to contend for them. Had we to do with an ene-
my that came only to plunder us af earthly trifles ; would ho-
nours, estates, aud what this world affords us, stay his stomach ^
it might suffer a debate, in a soul that hath hopes of heaven, whe-
ther it were worth iightiug to keep this lumber ; but Christ and
heaven, these sure are too precious to part withal upon any terms.
Ask the kingdom for him also^ said Solomon to JBathsheba, when
she begged Abishag for Adonijah. What can the devil leave
thee worth, if he deprive thee of these ? And yet I confess I
have heard of one, that wished God would let him alone, and not
take him from what he had here : Vile brute ! the choice of a
swine, and not a man, that could choose to wallow in the dung and
ordure of his carnal pleasures, and wish himself for ever shut up
with his swill in the hog's coat of this dunghill earth, rather than
leave these to dwell in heaven's palace, and be admitted to no
meaner pleasures than what God himself with his saints enjoy. —
It were even just if God gave such brutes as these a swine's face
to their swinish hearts : But alas, how few then should we meet
that would have the countenance of a man ? the greatest part of
the world, even all that are carnal and worldly, being of the same
mind, though not so impudent as that wretch, to speak what they
think. The lives of men tell plain enough what they say in their
hearts, it is good being here, that they wish they could build ta- -
bernacles on earth for all the mansions that are prepared in hea-
ven. The transgression of the wicked said in Pavid's heart that
the fear of God was not before them^ Psal. xxxvi. I. And may
not the worldliness of a muckworm say in the heart of any ra-
tional man, that heaven and heavenly excellencies are not before
their eyes or thoughts. O, what a deep silence is there conceru-
iug these in the conversations of men ! Heaven is such a stranger
to the most, that very few are heard to inquire the way thither,
or so much as ask the question in earnest, What shall they do to
be saved ? The most express no more desires of attaining heaven^
than those blessed souls now in heaven do of coming again to
dwell on earth ; alas, their heads are full of other projects ;
they are either, as Israel, scattered over the face of the earth to
gather straw, or busied to pick that straw they have gathered,
labouring to get the world, or pleawn^^ tfeeinselves wkh what they

/ • ' '" have

558 In High Places s or

have got. So that it is no more than needs to use some ai*gti*
ments to call men off the world to the pursuit of heaven, and what
is heavenly.

First, For earthly things, it is not necessary that thou h^st
them ; that is necessary which cannot be supplied per vicarium^
with somewhat besides itself. Now, there is no such earthly en-
joyments, but may be supplied, as to make its room more de-
sirable than its company. In heaven there shall be light, and no
sun ; a rich feast and yet no meat ; glorious robes, and yet no
clothes ; there shall want nothing, and yet none of this worldly
glory be found there ; yea, even while we are here, they may be
recompensed : Thou mayest be under infirmities of body, and yet
better than if thou hadst health : The inhabitants shall not say^
I am sick ; the people that dwell therein shall he forgiven their
iniquity^ Isa. xxxiii. 34. Thou mayest miss of worldly honour,
and obtain with those worthies of Christ, Heb. xi. a good report
by faith, and that is a name better than those of the great ones of
the earth ; thou mayest be poor in the world, and yet rich in
grace ; and godliness with content is great gain. In a word, if
thou partest with thy temporal life, and findest an eternal, what
dost thou lose by thy change ? But heaven and heavenly things
are such as cannot be recompensed with any other. Thou hast
^ heavenly soul in thy bosom ; lose that, and where canst thou
have another ? There is but one heaven ; miss that, and where
can you take up your lodging but in hell ? One Christ that can
lead you thither ; reject him, and there remains no more sacrifice
for sin. O that men would think on these things ! Go, sinner,
to the world, and see what it can afford you in lieu of these ; may
be it will oiFer to entertain you with its pleasures and delights :
O poor reward for the loss of Christ and heaven ! Is this all
thou canst get ? Doth satan rob thee of heaven and happiness,
and only give thee this posy to smell on as thou art going to thy
execution ? Will theste quencb hell-fire, or so much as cool those
flames thou art falling into ? Who but those? that have blinded
their understandings would take these toys and new-nothings for
Christ and heaven ? While satan is pleasing your fancies with
these rattles and baubles, his hand is in your treasure robbing you
of that which is only necessary : 'Tis more necessary to be saved
than to be, better not to be than to have a being in hell.

Secondly, Earthly things are such, as it is a great uncertainty
whether with all our labour we can have them or not. The
world, though so many thousand years old, hath not learned the
merchant such a method of trading, as that from it he may infal-
libly conclude he shall at last get an estate by his trade ; nor the
courtier such rules of comporting himself to the humour of his
prince, as to assure him he shall rise. They are but few that

carry

In Heavenly Things, 259

carry away the prize in the world's lottery ; the greater number
have only their labour for their pains, and a sorrowful remem-
brance left them of their egregious folly, to be led such a wild-
goose chace after that which hath deceived them at last. But
now for heaven, and the things of heaven, there is such a clear
and certain rule laid down, that if we will but take the counsel
of the Word, we can neither mistake the way, nor in that ^vay
miscarry of the end. As many as walk hif this rule ^ peace be
upon them, and the whole Israel of God* 'I'here are some indeed
who run, and yet obtain not this prize, that seek and find not,
knock and find the door shut upon them ; but it is, because they
do it either not in the right manner, or in the right season. Some>
would have heaven ; but if God save them, he must save their
sins also, for they do not mean to part with them ; and how hea-
ven can hold God and such company together, judge you : As they
come in at one door, Christ and all those holy spirits with him
would run out at the other. Ungrateful wTetches, that will not
come to this glorious feast, unless they may bring that with them
which would disturb the joy of that blissful state, and offend all
the guests that sit at the table with them ; yea, drive God out of
his own mansion-house. A second sort would have heaven, but
like him, in Kuth, iv, 2, 3, 4. who had a mind to his kinsman
Elimelech's land, and would have paid for the purchase, but he
liked not to have it by marrying Ruth, and so missed of it. —
Some seem very forward to have heaven and salvation, if their
own righteousness could procure the same (all the good they do,
and duties they perform, they lay up for this purchase), but at
last perish, because they close not with Christ, and take not hea-
ven in his right. A third sort are content to have it by Christ ;
but their desires are so impotent and listless, that they put them
upon no vigorous use of means to obtain him, and so (like the
sluggard) they starve, because they will not pull their hands out
of their bosom of sloth to reach their foad that is before them ;
for the world they have metal enough, and too much ; they trudge
far and near for that, and when they have run themselves out of
breath, can stand and pant after the dust of the earth, as the pro-
phet phraseth it, Amos ii. 7, But for Christ, and obtaining in-
terest in him, O how key-cold are they ! There is a kind of
cramp invades all the powers of their souls when they should pray,
hear, examine their hearts, druw out their affections in hunger-
ings and thirstings after his grace and spirit. It is strange to see
how they even now went full soop to the world, are suddenly be-
calmed, not a breath of wind stirring to any purpose in their souls
after these things : And is it any wonder that Christ and heaveu
should be denied to them that have no more mind to them ?
Lastly, Some have zeal enough to fiave Christ and h^aveii, but it

R is

260 In High Places ; or

is when the Master of the house is risen, and hath shut the door f
and truly when they itay stand long enough rapping before any
come to let them in. There is no gospel preached in another
world J but as for thee, poor soul, who art persuaded to renounce
thy lusts, throw away tke conceit of thy own righteousness, that
thou mayest run with more speed to Christ, and art so possessed
with the excellency of Christ, thy own present need of him, and sal«
vation by him, that thou pantest after him more than life itself :
In God's name, go on and speed, be of good comfort, he calls thee
by name to come unto him, that thou mayest have rest for thy
soul. There is an office in the Word where thou mayest have-
thy soul and its external happiness insured to thee. Those that
come to him, as he will himself in nowise cast away, so not suf-
fer any other to pluck them away. This day (saith Christ to
Zaccheus) salvation is come to thy house, Luke xix. 9. Salva-
tion comes to thee, poor soul, that openest thy heart to receive
Christ ; thou hast eternal life already, as sure as if thou wast a
glorified saint now walking in that heavenly city. O, sirs, if
there were a free trade proclaimed to the Indies, enough of gold
for all that went, and a certainty of making a safe voyage, who
would stay at home ? But alas, this can never be had : All this,
and infinitely more, may be said for heaven ; and yet how few
leave the uncertain hopes of the world to trade for it ? What
account can be given for this, but the desperate atheism of men's
hearts ? They are not yet fully persuaded whether the scripture
speaks true or not, whether they may rely upon the discovery that
God makes in his Word of this new^-found land, and those mines
of spirituals there to be had, as certain. God opens the eyes of
the unbelieving world (as he did the prophets' servants) that they
may see these things to be realities, not fictions ; 'tis faith only
that gives a being to these things in our hearts. By faith Moses
saw him that was invisible.

Thirdly, Earthly things when we have them, we are not sure
of them ; like birds, they hop up and down, now on this hedge,
and anon upon that ; none can call them his own ; rich to-day,
and poor to-morrow ; in health when we lie down, and arrested
■with pangs of death before midnight : joyful parents, one while
solacing ourselves with the hopes of our budding posterity, and
perhaps 'ere long knocks one of Job's messengers at our door to
tell us they are all dead now in honour ; but who knows whether
we shall not live to see that buried in scorn and reproach ? The
scripture compares the multitude of people to waters ; the great
ones of the world sit upon these waters ; as the ship floats upon
the waves, so do their honours upon the breath and favour of the
multitude ; and how long is he like to sit that is canied upon a
wave ? One while they are mounted up to heaven (as David

speaks

In Heavenly Things* » 261

speaks of the ship), and then down again they fall into the deep.
We have ten parts in the king (say the men of Israel), % Sam.
xix. 43. and in the very next verse, Sheba doth but sound a
trumpet of sedition, saying, We have no part in David, no in^
heritance in the son of Jesse, and the wind is in another corner
presently ; for it is said. Every man of Israel went up from after
jDavid, and followed Sheba, Thus w^as David cried up and
down, and that almost in the same breath. Unhappy man he,
that hath no surer portion than what this variable world will of-
fer him I The time of mourning for the departure of all earthly
enjoyments is at hand ; we shall see them, as Eglon's servants did
their lord, fallen down dead before us, and weep because they are
not. What folly, then, is it to dandle this vain world in our af-
fections (whose joy, like the child's laughter on the mother's
knee, is sure to end in a cry at last), and neglect heaven and hea-
venly things, which endure for ever ! O remember Dives stir-
ring up his pillow, and composing himself to rest, how he was
called up with the tidings of death before he was warm in his bed
of ease, and laid with sorrow on another, which God had made
for him in flames, from whence we hear him roaring in the anguish
of his conscience. O soul, couldst thou but get an interest ia
the heavenly things we are speaking of, these would not thus slip
from under thee : heaven is a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
Christ an abiding portion, his graces and comforts sure waters
that fail not, but spring up unto eternal life. The quails that
were food for the Israelites' lust soon ceased ; but the rock that
was drink to their faith followed them. This rock is Christ :
make sure of him, and he'll make sure of thee : he'll follow thee
to thy sick bed, and lie in thy bosom, cheering thy heart with
his sweet comforts, when worldly joys lie cold upon thee (as
David's clothes upon him), and no warmth of comfort to be got
from them. When thy outward senses are locked up, that thou
canst neither see the face of thy dear friends, nor hear the coun-
sel and comfort they would give thee, then he will come (though
these doors be shut) and say. Peace be to thee, my dear child ;
fear not d^ath or devils ; I stay to receive thy last breath, and
have here my angels waiting, that affsoon as thy soul is breathed
out of thy body, they may carry and lay it in my bosom of love,
where I will nourish thee with those eternal joys that my blood
hath purchased, and my love prepared for thee.

Fourthly, Earthly things are empty and unsatisfying. We
may have too much, but never enough of them : they oft breed
loathing, but never content ; and indeed how should they, being
so disproportionate to the vast desires of these immortal spirits
that dwell in our bosoms ? A spirit hath not flesh and bones,
neither can it be fed with such ; and. what hath th world, but a

R 2 few

262 In High Places ; oi^

few bones covered over with some fleshly delights, to give it ?
The less is blessed of the greater, not the greater of the less.—
These things therefore being so far inferior to the nature of man;
he must look higher, if he will be blessed, even to God himself,
who is the Father of spirits. God intended these things for ouu
use, not enjoyment ; and what folly is it to think we can squeeze
that from them which God never put in them ! They are breasts,
that, moderately drawn, yield good milk, nourishing and refresh-
ing ; but strain them too hard, and you will suck nothing but
wind or blood from them. We lose what they have, by expecting^
what they have not : none find less sweetness, and more dissatis-
faction in these things, than those that strive most to find plea-
sure in them. The cream of the creature floats at the top ; and
he that is not content to skim it, but thinks by drinking a deeper
draught to find y^t more, goes further to speed worse, being sure,
by the disappointment he shall meet, to pierce himself through
with many sorrows. But all these fears might happily be escap-
ed, if thou shouldst turn thy back on the creature, and face about
for heaven. Labour to get Christ, and through him hopes of
heaven, and thou takest the right road to content ; thou shalt see
it before thee, and enjoy the prospect of it as thou goest ; yea,
find that every step brings thee nearer and nearer to it. O what
a sweet change wouldst thou find ! As a sick man coming out of
an impure, unwholesome climate, where he never was well, when
he gets into fresh air, or his native soil, so wilt thou find a cheer-
ing of thy spirit, and reviving thy soul with unspeakable content
and peace. Having once closed with Christ, first the guilt of
all thy sins is gone, and this spoiled all thy mirth before ; all your
dancing of a child, when some pin pricks it, will not make it
quiet or merry j well, now that pin is taken out which robbed
thee of the joy of thy life. Secondlv, Thy nature is renewed
and sanctified, and when is a man at ease, if not when in health ?
And what is holiness, but the creature restored to his right tem-
per in which God created him ? Thiidly, Thou becomest a
child of God, and that cannot but please thee well, I hope, to be
son or daughter, to so great a King. Fourthly, thou hast a right
to heaven's glory, whither thou shalt 'ere long be conducted to
take and hold possession of that thy inheritance for ever : And
who can tell what that is ? Nicephorus tells of one Agbarus, a
great man, that hearing so much of Christ's fame, by reason of
the miracles he wrought, sent a painter to take his picture ; and
that the painter, when he came, was not able to do it, because of
that radiancy of divine splendour which sat on Christ's face. — •
Whether this be true or no, I leave it ; but to be sure, there is
-such a brightness on the face of Christ glorified^ and that happi-
ness which in heaven saints shall have with him, as forbid us,

that

In Heavenly Things. 263

tliat dwell in mortal flesh, to conceive of it aright, much more to
express ; 'tis best going thither to be informed, and then we shall
confess we on earth heard not half of what we there find ; yea,
and that our present conceptions are no more like to that vision
of glory we shall there have, than the sun in the painter's table
is to the sun itself in the heavens. And if all these be so, why
then do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your
labour for that which satisfieth not, yea, for that which keeps you
from that which can satisfy ? Earthly things are like some trash,
which do not only not nourish, but take away the appetite from
that which would : heaven and heavenly things are not relished by
a soul vitiated like these. Manna, though for deliciousness called
angels' food, yet but light bread to an Egyptian palate. But
these spiritual things depend not on thy opinion, O man, whoever
thou art (as earthly things in a great measure do), that the value
of them should rise or fall as the world's exchange doth, and as
vain man is pleased to rate them. Think gold dirt, and it is so,
for all the royal stamp on it ; count the swelling titles of worldly
honour (that proud dust so brags in) vanity, and they are such :
but have base thoughts of Christ, and he is not the worse ; slight
heaven as much as ye will, it will be heaven still. And when
thou comest so far to thy wits, with the prodigal, as to know which
is the best fare, husks or bread ; where is the best living, among
hogs in the field, or in thy Father's house ; then thou shalt know
how to judge of these heavenly things better: till then, go and
make the best market thou canst of the world, but look not to
find this pearl of price, true satisfaction to thy soul, in any of the
creature shops ; and were it not better to take it when thou
mayest have it, than after thou hast wearied thyself in vain in
following the creature, to come back with shame, and may be
miss of it here also, because thou wouldst not have it when it wa;?
itffered ?

VERSE XIII.

Wherefore take nntot/ou the whole Armour of Gocl, that ye may
be able to withstand in the evil day^ and having done all^ to
stand.

npHE apostle in these words resumes his former exhortation,
-*• mentioned ver. II. and presseth it with a new force from
that more particular discovery which he gives of the enemy, ver.
12. where, like a faithful scout, he makes a full report of satan's
great power and malice, and also discloseth what a dangerous

K 'd design

2645 Wherefore take unto you

design he iiath upon the saints, no less than to despoil them of all
that is heavenly ; From which he gives them a second alarm, and
bids them Arm ! arm ! therefore take unto you^ &.c. In the
words consider,

First, The exhortation with the inference, Wherefore take UU'
to you the whole armour of God.

Secondly, The argument with which he urgeth the exhortation,
and that is double.

First, That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day.

Second!)-, Having done all, to stand; that is, both able to
fight, and able to conquer. As for the first general, the eihor-
tation, we shall wave it as to the substance of it, being the same
ivith what we have handled, ver. 1 1 . Only there are two ob-
servables which we shall lightly touch. The one from the repe-
tition of the very same exhortation so soon, one verse only inter-
posed. The other from the verb the apostle useth here ; which
being not the same with ver. 11. affords a different note. There
it is, endusasthe^ here, analambanete.

CHAP. I.

The Reason why the Apostle renews the same Exhortation ; and
also what Truths Ministers are often to preach to their

People,

THIRST, of the first, the repetition of the same exhortation, and
-*- that in so short a space. Sure it was not for want of matter,
but rather out of abundance of zeal, that he harps the second
time on the same string. Indeed, he is tlie better workman, who
drives one nail home with reiterated blows, than he which covets
to enter many, but fastens none. Such preachers are not likely
to reach the conscience, who hop from one truth to another, but
dwell on none. Every hearer is not so quick as the preacher, to
take a notion as it is first darted forth ; neither can many carry
away so much of the sermon, which is made up all of varieties
(where a point is no sooner named, but presently pulls back its
hand, and another makes a breach and comes forth, before the
first hath been opened and hammered upon the conscience by a
powerful application). As where the discourse is homogeneal,
and some one necessary truth is cleared, insisted on, and urged
home with blow upon blow ; here the whole matter of the dis-
course is akin, and one part remembered brings the memory ac-
quainted with the other ; whereas in the former, one puts out
the Other in a weak memory. Short hints and away may please
\ * a

The whole Armour of God. 26 S

a scholar, but not so profitable for others ; the one more fit fox
the schools, but the other for the pulpit. Were I to buy a gar-
ment in the shop, I should like him better that lays one good
piece or two before me that are for my turn (which I may fully
peruse), than him who takes down all his shop, and heaps piece
upon piece, merely to shew his store, till at last for variety 1 can
look wishfully on none, they lie so one upon another.

Again, As it is profitable thus to insist on truths, so it is not
unbecoming a minister to preach the same truths again and again :
Paul here goes over and over the same exhortation, ver. 1 1 . ver.
13. and elsewhere tells us, This is not grievous to him, hut to
them it is safe, to hear the same thing over and over, Phil. iii. 1.
There are three sorts of truths, which must in our ministry be
preached oft.

First, Fundamental truths ; or, as we call them, catechise
points, that contain truths necessary to be known and believed..—
The weight of the whole building lies on these ground-cells more
than on superstructory truths. In a kingdom there are some staple
^commodities and trades, without which the common-weal could
not subsist, as wool, corn, &c. in our country ; and these ought
to be encouraged above others (which, though they be an orna-
meat to the nation, yea, add to the riches of it, j^et are not so
necessary to the subsistence of it). Thus here, there is an excel-
lent use of our other ministerial labours, as they tend to beautify
and adorn, yea, enrich the Christian with the knowledge of spi-
ritual mysteries ; but that which is chiefly to be regarded, is the
constant faithful opening of those main truths of the gospel ; these
are the land-marks, and shew us the bounds of truths : and as it
is in towns that border one upoii another, if the inhabitants do
not sometimes perambulate, and walk the bounds (to shew the
youth what they are), when the old studs are gone, the next ge-
neration may lose all their privileges by their encroaching neigh-
bours, because not able to tell what is their own, Thei-e is no
fundamental truth but hath some evil neighbour (heresy I mean)
bordering on it ; and the very reason why a spirit of error hath so
encroached of late years upon truth, is, because we have not
walked the bounds with our people, in acquainting them with, and
establishing their judgments on these fundamental points, so fre-
quently and carefully as is requisite. 'And people are so much in
fault, because they cast so much contempt upon this work, that
they count a sermon on such points next to lost, and only child's
meat.

Secondly, Those truths are oft to he preached, which minis^
ters ohserve to he most undermined hy satan or his instruments
in the judgments or lives of their people. The preacher must
read and study his people as diligently as any book in his study ;,

R 4' and

^66 Wherefore take unto you

and as he finds them, dispense like a faithful steward unto them*
Paul takes notice that the Galatians had been in ill handling by false
apostles, who had even bewitched them back to the law in that
great point of justification, and see how he bears upon that point.
Our people complain, we are so much, so oft reprovins^ the same
error or sin ; and the fault is their own, because they will not leave
it : who will blame the dog for continuing to bark, when the thief
is all the while in the yard? Alas, alas, it is not once or twice rousing
against sin, will do it. ^\hen people think the minister shews his
laziness, because he preaches the same things, he may then be ex-
ercising his patience, in continuing to exhort and reprove those
who oppose waiting if at last God will give them repentance to
the acknowledging of the truth. We are bid to lift up our voice
like a trumpet, and would you have us cease while the battle lasts,
or sound a retreat when it should be a battle ?

Thirdly, Truths of daily use and practice. These are like
breg,d and salt ; whatever else is on, these must be on the board
every meal. St. Peter was of this mind, 2 Pet. 1. 12. I will
fwt be negligent to put you always in rememhrance of these
ilwigs, though ye know them. He had (you may see) been
speaking of such graces and duties, that they could not pass a
day without the exercise of them, and therefore will be ever their
monitor to stir up their pure minds about them. All is not well,
when a man is w^eary ot" his ordinary food, and nothing will go
down but rarities ; the stonjach is sickly, wheu a man delights
rather to pick some sallad than eat of solid meat : and how far
this dainty age is gone in this spiritual disease, I think few are so
far come to themselves, a? yet to consider and lament. O sirs,
be not weary, as in doing, so not in hearing those savoury truths

}ireached you have d:iily use of, because ye know them, and haye
leard them often : faith and repentance will be good doctrine to
preach and hear to the end of the world. You may as well quar-
rel with God because he hath made but one heaven, and one way
to it, as be offended at the preacher for preaching these over and
over. If thy heart be humble, and thy palate spiritual, old truths
would be new to thee every time thou hearest them. In heaven,
the saints drew all their wine of joy (as I may say) at one tap,
and shall to all eternity, and yet it never tastes flat. God is that
one object their souls are tilled with, and never weary of; and
can any thing of God and his love be wearisome to thee Jn the
hearing here ? I am not all this while an advocate fpr any loiter-
er in our Lord's vineyard, for any slothful servant in the work of
the gospel, who wraps up liis talent in idleness, or buries it in
the earth, where, may be, he is digging and playing the world-
ling all the week, and then hath nothing to set before his people
on the Lord's day, but one or two mouldy loaves, which were

kneaded

The tehole Annmir of God. ^C7

kneaded many years before. This is not the good steward ; here
is the old, but where are the new things which he should bring
out of his treasure ? If the minister labours not to ijicrease hig
stock, he is the worst thief in the parish. It is wicked lor a man,
trusted with improving of orphans' estates, to let them lie dead
by hira ; much more tor a minister not to improve his gifts (which
1 may call the town-stock, given for the good of the souls of both
rich and poor). If that preacher was wise (Eccl. xii. 9.) who
still taught the people knowledge^ that is, was ever going on, en-
deavouring to build them higher in knowledge, and that he might,
did give good head^ and sought,, and set in order,, manif proverbs ;
then surely he will be proved a foolish preacher at last, that wastes
his time in sloth, or spends more, of it in studying how to add to
his estate out of his people's, than how to add to their gifts 91M
graces, by a coiiscionable endeavour to increase his own.

«^»'%«>\%/»V««^%'%WV«%'«'VV%/%V«V%V%V%

CUAP. 11.

The hest of Saints subject to decline in their Graces, and ttih^
we are to endeavour a Recoverij of Decays in Grace,

npHE second observable in the exhortation, is taken from thft
-*■ verb which the apostle useth, analambanete^ which signifies
not only to take, but to take again, or recover a thing which we
have lost, or reassumea thing which for the present we have left.
Now the apostle writing to the saints at Ephesus, who (at least
many of them) were not now to put on this armour by a convert
.^ion (or the first work of faith, which no doubt had already past
upon many among them), he, in regard of them and believers to
the end of the world, had a further meaning, i. e. That they
would put on more clothes where this armour hangs loose, and ,
they would recover where they have let fall any duty, or decayed
in any grace. So that the note is,

Doct, That the Christian should have an especial care to re-
pair his broken armour, to recover his decayed graces. This
armour may be battered ; I might shew sad examples in the se-
veral pieces. Was. not .Tacob's girdle of truth and sincerity un-
buckled, when he used that sinful policy to get the blessing ? He
was not the plain man then, but the supplanter ; but he had as
good have stayed God's time : he was paid home in his own kind ;
he puts a cheat on his father ; and did not Eaban put a cheat on
him, giving Leah for Rachel ? What say you of David's breast-
plate of righteousness, in the matter of Uriah ? Was it not shot
through, and that holy man fearfully wounded, who lay almost ?i

vear

268 Wherefore take unto you

year (far aught we read of him) before he came to himself, so far as
to be thoroughly sensible of his sin, till Nathan, a faithful chirur-
geon, was gent to search the wound, and clear it of that dead flesh
which had grown over it ? And Jonah (otherwise a holy prophet)
when God would send him on an errand to Nineveh, he hath his
shoes to seek, I mean that preparation and readiness with which
his mind should have been shod, to have gone at the first call. —
Good Hezekiah, we find how near his helmet of hope was of
being beat off his head, who tells us himself what his thoughts
were in the day of his distress ; that he should not see the Lord
in the land of the living, expecting that God would never let go
his hold till like a lion he had broke his bones^ and at last^ade
a7i end of him. Even Abraham himself, famous for faith, yet
had his fits of unbelief and distrustful qualms coming over his va-
liant heart. Now in this case, the Christian's care should be to
get his armour speedily prepared : a battered helmet is next to no
helmet, in point of present use ; grace in a decay, is like a man
pulled off his legs by sickness ; if some means be not used to re-
cover it, little service will be done by it, or comfort received
from it. Therefore Christ gives this church of Ephesus (to whom
Paul wrote his epistle) this counsel. To remember from whence
the was fallen, to repent an^ do her first works. How man)^ does
a declining Christian Wrong at once I

Firsts He wrongs God, and that in » high degree, because
God reckons upon more honour to be paid him in by his saints
grace, than by all other talents which his creatures have to trade
with in the world. He can in some sense better bear the open
sins of the world, than the deca5's of his saints graces ; The}'^, by
abusing their talents, rob him of his oil^ Jiax and wool ; but the
Christian by the other bereaves him of the glory which should be
paid him from his faith, zeal, patience, self-denial, sincerity, and
the rest. Suppose a master should trust one servant with his money,
and another with his child to look to ; would he not be more dis-
pleased to see his dear child hurt, or almost killed, by the negli-
gence of i;he one, than his money stolen by the carelessness of the
other ? Grace is the new creature, the birth of the spirit ; when
this comes to any harm by the Christian's careless walking, it
must needs go nearer the heart of God, than the wrong he hath
from the^'orld, who are trusted with nothing like this.

Secondly, He that declines in grace, and labours not to repair
it, he wrongs his brethren, who have a share in one another's
grace : He wrongs his whole body, that seeks not cure for a
wound in any member. We are bid to love one a?inther^ 2 John
V. 5. But how shall we shew our love to one another ? The
very next will direct us : jind this is love, that we walk after
Ms commandments. Indeed, we shew little love to our brethren

by

^Fhe whole Armour of God, 269

by sinning, whereby we are sure either to ensnare them, or grieve
them : And how to let grace go down, and sin not go up, is a rid-
dle to any that know what they both are.

Thirdly, The Christian wrongs himself ill not endeavouring to
repair his broken armour, and recover his declining grace. By
this he loses the evidence of his inheritance, or at lea&t so blots it,
that it cannot be so clearly perceived by him. A declining Chris-
tian must needs be a doubting Christian, because the comraoa
symptom of an hypocrite is, to Wear and waste like a stake set
in the ground, which rots, while true grace, like the tree, grows.
Is not this the knot which the devil puzzleth many poor soub
withal, and finds them work for many years to untie ? If thou
wast a Christian, thou wouldst grow ; right saints go on from

strength to strength, and thou goest from strength to weakness

They go up the hill to Zion : every ordmance and providence is
a step that bears them nearer heaven : But thou goest down the
hill, and art further from thy salvation than when thou didst fust
believe (as thou thoughtest). And doth it stand with thy wisdom.
Christian, to put a staff into the devil's hand, an argument into his
mouth, to dispute against thy salvation with ? If you held an estate
by the life of a child, which upon the death of it should all go away
from you, that child I warrant you should be well looked unto ;
his head should not ache, but you would post to the physician for
counsel. I pray what is your evidence for that glorious estate
you hope for ? Is it not Christ within you ? Is not this new crea-
ture (which may be well called Christ, for its likeness to him)
the young heir of heaven's glory ? And when that is sick or
weak, is it not time to use all means for its recovery ? While
thus, thou canst neither live nor die comfortably. Not live. —
A man in a consumption has little joy of life ; he neither finds
sweetness in his meat, nor delight in his work, as an health-
ful man doth. Oh, how sweet is the promise of faith, when ac-
tive and vigorous ! How easy the yoke of the command to the
Christian, when his conscience is not galled with guilt, nor his
strength enfeebled by temptation ? But the Christian in a declin-
ing condition, he tastes not the promise ; every command is griev-
ous, and every duty burdensome to him : He goes in pain like
one whose foot is out of joint, though the way be never so pleasant.
And he is as unfit to die, as he is to live. Such a one can like
no more to hear the news of death, than a tenant that wants his
rent doth to hear of the quarter-day. This made David beg time
of God ; Spare me a little^ that I may recover my strength.

Having shewn you why the Christian should endeavour to re-
cover his declining graces, it will be requisite to give a word of
counsel to the Christian.

jFirst, To direct him how to judge of the declining state of

graccy

S76 Wherefore take unto you

^race, that he may not pass a false judgment upon himself there^

lU.

Secondly, to direct him when he finds grace to be in a declina-
tion, how he may recover it.

k%%%'V«/W%«'V«/V%^VV«^

CHAP. III.

A cautionary Direction from what we may not^ as also fro}H>
what we may^ judge our Graces to be in a Declination,

^uest. JpiKST, of the first, How may a Christian judge^ whe-
-■- ther grace he declining in him^ or no ?

Ans, First, I shall resolve this negatively, and shew by what
iie is not to judge his grace to decline.

Secondly, Positively, by what he may certainly conclude a
decay of grace.

First, Negatively, and that in several particulars.

1. Christian, do not judge grace to be fallen weaker, because
thy sense of corruption is grown stronger : This oft lies at the
bottom of poor souls' complaints in this case. Oh I they never
felt piide, hypocrisy, and other corruptions to haunt them, as
now : none knows how they are vexed with these and the like,
besities themselves. Now let me ask thee, who makes this sad
wioan, whether thou dost not think these corruptions were in thee
before thou didst thus feel them ? How oft hast thou prayed as
formally, and not been troubled ! How oft hast thou stood chat-
ting with the same lusts, and thy soul hath not been laid low be-
fore the Lord with such abasement of thyself as now! Deal
faithfully between God and thy soul, and tell not a lie for God,
by bearing false witness against thyself. If it be thus, thou hast
rather a comfortable sign of grace growing, than decaying. Sin
cannot be on the getting hand, if the sense of sin grow quick. —
This is the concomitant of a thriving soul ; none so full of com-
plaints of their own hearts, as such : the least sin goes now to
their very souls, which makes them think viler of themselves than
ever; but it is not the increase of sin in them, but the advance of
their love to Christ makes them judge bo. When the sun shines
with some power, and the year gets up, we observe, though we
may have frost and snow, yet they do not lie long, but are soon
dissolved by the sun. Oh, 'tis a sweet sign that the love of Christ
shines with a force upon thy soul, that no corruptions can lie long
in thy bosom, but they melt into sorrow and bitter complaints. —
That is the decaying soul, where sin lies bound up and frozen ;
^ttk sense of, or sorrow for it appears.

Secondly^

The whole Armour of God* 27 i

Secondly, Take heed thou thinkest not grace decays, because
thy comfort withdraws. The influence of the sun comes where
the light of it is not to be found ; yea, is mighty, as appears in
those mines of gold and silver which are concocted by the same.
And so may the actings of grace be vigorous in thee, when least
under the shines of his'countenance. Did ever faith triumph more
than in, our Saviour, crying, Mtf God, My God! Here faith

was at its meridian, when it was midnight in respect of joy

Possibly thou coraest from an ordinance, and bringest not home
with thee those sheaves of comfort thouusest to do, and therefoi-e
coucludest that grace acts not in thee as formerly. Truly, if
thou hast nothing else to go by, thou mayest wrong the grace of
God in thee exceedingly ; because thy comfort is extrinsical to
thy duty, a boon which God may give or not, yea doth give to
the weak, and deny to the strong. The traveller may go as fast,
and ride as much ground, when the sun doth not shine, as whea
it doth (though indeed he goes not so merrily on his journey) j
nay, sometimes he makes the more haste ; the warm sun makef?
him sometimes to lie down and loiter ; but when dark and cold,
he puts on with more speed. Some graces thrive best (like some
flowers) in the shade, such as humility, dependence on God,
&c.

Thirdly, Take heed thou dost not mistake, and think thy grace
decays, when may be 'tis only thy temptations increase, and not
thy grace decrease. If you should hear a man sa}'^, because he
. cannot to-day run so fast, when an hundred weight is on his back,
as he could yesterday without any such a burden, that therefow
he was grown weaker; you w^ould soon tell him where his mistake
lies. Temptation lies not in the same heaviness always upon the
Christian's shoulder: observe therefore whether satau is not moi'e
than ordinary let loose to assault thee ; whether thy temptations
come not with more force and violence than ever ; possibly,
though thou dost not with the same facility overcome these, as
thou hast done less, yet grace may act stronger in conflicting with
the greater, than in overcoming the less. The same ship that,
when light-ballasted, and favoured with the wind, goes mounting,
at another time deeply laden, and going against wind and tide,
may move with a slow pace, and yet they in the ship take more
pains to make it sail thus, than they did when it went faster.

Secondly, Positively, how thou mayest conclude that grace is
declining ; and that in a threefold respect.

First, In reference to temptations to sin.

Secondly, In reference to the duties of God's worship.

Thirdly, The frame of thy heart in wordly employments.

First, lu reference to sin ; and that is threefold.

1 . When thou ait not so wakeful to discover the encroaching^

<4'

2T2 Wherefore take unto you

of sin upon tliee as formerly. At one time we find David's heart
smote him, when he but rent the skirt of Saul's garment : At
another time, when his eye glanced on Bathsheba, he takes no
such notice of the snare satan had him in, and so is led from one

^siu to another ; which plainly shews that grace in him was heavy-
eyed, and his heart not in so holy a frame as it had been. If an
enijmy comes up to the gates, and the ceutinel not so much as give

' an alarm to the city of his approach, it shews he is off his guard,
either fallen asleep or worse. If grace were awake, and thy con-
science had not contracted some hardness, it would do its office.

2. When a temptation to sin is discovered, and thou findest
thy heart shut up, that thou dost not prav against it, or not
with that zeal and holy indignation as formerly upon such occa-
sions, it is a bad sign, that lust hath got an advantage of thy
l^race, that thou canst not readily betake thyself to thy arms. —
Thy affections are bribed, and this makes thee so cold a suitor at
the throne of grace, for help against thine enemy.

3. When the arguments prevailing most with thee to resist
temptations to sin, or mourn for sin committed, are more carnal
and less evangelical than formerly. May be thou rememberest
when thy love to Christ would have spit fire on the face of satan
tempting thee to such a sin ; but now that holy fire is so abated,
that if there were not some other carnal motives to make the vote
full, it would hazard to be carried for it, rather than against it.
And so in mourning for a sin, there is po9sibl3'^some slavish argu-
ments (like an onion in the eye^ which makes thee weep, rather
than pure ingenuity arising from love to God, whom thou hast of-
fended. This speaks a sad decay; and the more mixture there
is of such carnal arguments, either in the resisting of, or mourn-
ing for sin, the greater the declination of grace is. David's natu-
ral heat was much decayed, when he needed so many clothes to
be laid on him, and he yet feel so little heat ; the time was he
would have sweat with fewer. I am afraid, many their love to
Christ will be found, in these declining times, to have lost so much
of its youthful vigour, that what would formerly have put them
into an holy fury and burning zeal against some sins, such as sab-
bath-breaking, pride of apparel, neglect of family-duties, &c.
hath now much ado to keep any heat at all in them against the
same.

Secondly, In point of family duties of worship.

1. If thy heart doth not prompt thee with that forwardness and
readiness as formerly, to hold communication with God in any
duty. Possibly thou knowest the time when thy heart echoed
back to the motions of God's spirit, bidding thee, SetkMsface ;^
Thij face^ Lord, will 'I seek : Yea, thou didst long as much till
a sermoa or sermon-season came, as a carnal wretch doth till it

be

The whole Armour of God, 273

be gone ; but now thy pulse doth not beat so quick a march to
the ordinances, public or secret. Nature cannot but decay, if
appetite to food go away : A craving soul is the thriving soul, such
a child that will not let his mother rest, but is frequently crying
for the breast.

2. When thou declinest in thy care to perform duties in a spi-
ritual sort, and to preserve the sense of those more inward fail-
ings, which in duty none but thyself can check thee of. It is
not frequency in duty, but spirituality in duty, causeth thriving ;
and therefore, neglect in this point soon brings grace into a con-
sumptive pasture. Possibly, soul, the time was thou wert not
satisfied with praying, but thou didst watch thy heart strictly (asi
a man would every piece in a sum of money be pays, lest he
should wrong his friend with any brass or uncurrent coin) ; thou
wouldst have God not only have duty, but duty stampt with that
faith which makes it current, have that zeal and sincerity which
makes it gospel- weight ; but now thou art more careless and for-
mal : Oh, look to it, poor soul, thou wilt, if thou continue thus
careless, melt in thy spiritual estate apace : such dealings will
spoil thy trade with heaven j God will not take off these slighty
duties at thy hands.

3. When a Christian gets little spiritual nourishment from
communion with God, to what he hath done. The time hath
beeu (it may be) thou couldst shew what came of thy praying,
hearing, and fasting ; but now the case is altered. There is a
double-strength communion which God imparts to a soul in a
healthful disposition ; strength to faith, and strength for our obe-
dient^l walking. Dost thou hear and pray, and get no more
strength to hold by a promise ; no more power over, or broken-
ness of heart under thy usual corruptions ? What, come down the
mount, and break the tables of God's law as soon as thou art off
the place ? As deep in thy passion, uneven in thy course as be-
fore ? There is a sure decay of that inward heat, which should
and would (if in his right temper) suck some nourishment from
these.

Thirdly, By thy behaviour in thy worldly employments.

1. When thy worldly occasions do not leave them in so fi'ee
and spiritual a disposition, to return into the presence of God as
formerly. May be tliou couldst have come fiora thy shop and fa-
mily employments to thy closet, and find that they have kept thee
in frame, yea, may be, delivered thee in a better frame for those
duties ; but now 'tis otherwise ; thou canst not so shake them oil',
but they cleave to thy spirit, and give an earthly savour to thy
praying and hearing ; thou hast reason to bewail it. When nature
decays, men go more stooping ; and 'tis a sign some such decay is
in thee, that thou canst not, as thou usest, lift up thy heart from

earthlv

274f Wherefore take iinio you

earthly to spiritual duties. They were intended as helps against
temptatiou ; and therefore when they prove snares to us, there
is a distemper on us. If we wax worse after sleep, the body is
not right, because the nature of sleep is to refresh; if exercise in-
disposeth for work, the reason is in our own bodies. So here :

2. When thy diligence in thy particular calling is more selfish.
Possibly thou hast wrought in th}'^ shop, and sat close at thy
study, in obedience to the command chiefly ; thy carnal interests
liave swayed but little with thee ; but now thou tradest more for
thyself, and less for God. Oh, have a care of this I

3. When thou canst not bear the disappointment of thy carnal
ends in thy particular calling, as thou hast done. Thou workest
and gettest little of the world, thou preachest and art not much
esteemed, and thou knowest not well how to brook these. The
time was thou couldst retire thyself into God, and make up all
thou didst want elsewhere in him ; but now thou art not so well
satisfied with thy estate, rank and condition ; thy heart is finger-
ing for more of these than God allows thee ; this shews declining.
Children are harder to be pleased, and old men (whose decay of
nature makes them more forward, and in a manner children the
second time), than others. Labour, therefore, to recover thy
decaying grace j and as this lock grows, so thy strength with it
will, to acquiesce in the disposure of God's providence.

%'W'%«^'%/%%<%V^«.%«^«%'V%W«^»«/V%'««^«%««

> CHAP. IV.

A Word of Counsel for the Recovery of declining Grace,

VT/'E come now to give a few directions to the Christian, how
^ ^ to recover decaying grace.

Inquire faithfully into the cause of thy declining. The Chris-
tian's armour decays two ways : Either by violent battery, when
the Christian is overcome by temptation to sin ; or else by neglec-
ting to furbish and scour it with the use of those means, which are
Sis oil to keep it clean and bright. Now inquire which of these
have been the cause of thy decay : It is like, both concur.

First, if thy grace be weakened by any blow given it by any
sin committed by thee ; there then lies a threefold duty upon the6
towards the recovery of it.

1. Thou art to renew thy repentance. It is Christ's counsel.
Rev. ii. 5. to Ephesus, Repent, and do thy first works : where it
is not only commanded as a duty, but prescribed as a means for
her recovery ; as if he had said. Repent, that thou mayest do thy
Srst works, Lo, IIos. xiv. 2. the Lord sets back-sliding Israel

about

Ttie whole Armour of God. 275

about this work, bifiding her, take wnvds^ and turn to the Lord :
And verse 4. he then tells her he'll take her ia hand to recover
her of her sins, I will heal their backslidings : A repenting soul
is under promise of healing. And therefore. Christian, go and
search thy heart, as thou wouldst do thy house, if some thief or
murderer lay hid in it to cut thy throat in the night ; and when
thou hast found the sin that has done thee the mischief, then la-
bour to fill thy heart with shame for it, and indignation against it,
and so go big with sorrow, and cast it forth before the Lord in a
heart-breaking confession : Better thou do this, than satan do thy
errand to God for thee.

2. When thou hast renewed thy repentance, forget not, delay
not then to renew thy faith on the promise for pardon. Kepent-
ance, that is like purging physic to evacuate the peccant humours ;
but if faith come not presently with its restorative, the poor crea-
ture will never get heart, or recover his strength. A soul may
die of a flux of sorrow as well of sin ; faith hath an incarnating
virtue, as they say of some strengthening meats ; it feeds upon
the promise, and that is perfect^ converting (or rather restoring)
the soul^ Psal. xix. 7. Though thou wert pined to skin and bones,
all thy strength wasted, yet faith would soon recruit thee, and
enable every grace to perform its office cheerfully. Faith sucks
peace from the promise, called peace in believing ; from peace
flows joy ; being justified by faith, we have peace with Gody
Rom. v. i. and ver. 2. JVe rejoice in hope of glory, and joy af-
fords strength ; the joy of the Lord is our strength.

3. Back both these with a daily endeavour to mortify those
lusts which most prevail over thy grace. Weeds ca4iuot thrive,
and the flowers also ; when grace doth not act vigorously and free-
ly, conclude it is opprest with some contrary lust, which weighs
down its spirits, and makes them lumpish j even as superfluous
humours do load the natural spirits in our bodies, that we have,
little joy to stir or go about any business till they be evacuated :
and thei efore ply this work close ; it is not a day's work or tw-o
in the year, like physic at spring and fall : nothing more vaia
than to make a bustle, as the Papists do at their Lent, or lissome
unsound professors among ourselves, who seem to bestir themselves
before a sacrament or day of fasting, with a great noise of zeal,
and then let those very lusts live peaceably in them all the year
after. No, this is child-play, to do and undo ; thou must morti-
fy daily thy lusts by the spirit, Rom. viii. 13. Follow but this
work conscionably in thy Christian course, making it thy endea-
vour (as constantly as the labouring man goes out every day to
work in the field where his calling lies) to watch thy heart, and
use all means for the discovery of sin, and as it breaks forth to be
humbled Jpr it, and be chopping at the root of it with the axe of

£ mortification :

276 Wherefore take unto you

mortification : and thou shalt see, by the blessing of God, what £s
change for the better there will be in the constitution of thy grace.
Thou, who art now so poor, so pale, that thou art afraid to see thy
own face long in the glass of thy own conscience, thou shalt then re-
flect with joy upon thy own conscience, and dare to converse with
thyself, without those surprizals of horror and fear which before
did appall thee. Thy grace, though it shall not be thy rejoicing,
yet it will be thy evidence for Christ, in whom it is, and lead thee
in with boldness to lay claim to him : while the loose Christian,
whose grace is overgrown with lusts, for want of this weediug-
hook, shall stand trembling at the door, questioning whether his
grace be true or no» and from that doubt of his welcome.

Secondly, If, upon inquiry, thou fiwdest that thy armour de-
cays, rather for want of scouring, than by any blow from sin
presumptuously committed (as that is most common and ordinary,
rust will soon spoil the best armour, and negligence give grace its
bane, as well as gross sins), then apply thyself to the use of
those means which God hath appointed for the strengthening
grace: If the fire goes out by taking off the wood, what may pre-
serve it but by laying it on again ?

I.I shall send thee to the Word of God ; be more frequently
conversant with it. David tells us where he renewed his spirit-
ual life, and got his soul so oft into a heavenly heat, when grace
in him began to chill : The Word (he tells us) quickened him ;
this was the sunny bank he sat under. The Word draws forth
the Christian's grace, by presenting every one with an object
suitable to act upon : this is of great power to rouse them up ; as
the coming of a friend makes us, though sleepy before, shake off
all drowsiness, to enjoy his company. Affections, they are ac-
tuated when their object is before them ; if we love a person, this
is excited by sight of him ; if we hate one, our blood riseth much
wore against him when before us. Now the Word brings the
Christian's graces and their objects together. Here love may de-
light herself with the beholding Christ, who is set out to the life
there in all his love andloveliness ; here the Christian may see his
sins in a glass that will not flatter him ; and can there any godly
sorrow be in the heart, any hatred of sin, and not come forth,
while the man is reading what they cost Christ for him ?

2. From the Woi d go to meditation ; this is a bellows to the
lire ; that grace which lies choaked and eaten up for want of ex-
ercise, will by this be cleared and break forth ; while thou art
musing, this fire will burn, and thy heart grow hot within thee,
according to the nature of the subject thy thoughts dwell upon. —
liesolve, therefore. Christian, to enclose some time from all
worldly suitors, wherein thou mayest every day, if possible, at
least take a view of the most remarkable occurrences that have

passed

The whole Armour of God. ^ 277

passed between God and thee : First, ask thy soul what takings
it hath had that day, what mercies heaven hath sent in to thee ;
and do not, when thou hast asked the question (like Pilate), go
out, but stay till thy soul has made report of God's gracious deal-
ings with thee : aud if thou beest wise to observe, and faithful
to relate tbera, thy conscience must tell thee, that the cock was
never turned, the breast of mercy never put up all the day ; yea,
while thou art viewing these fresh mercies, telling over this new
coin, hot out of the mint of God's bounty, aucient mercies will
come crowding in upon thee, and call for a place in thy thoughts,
Hud tell thee what God hath done for thee months and years ago
(and indeed old debts should not be paid last) ; give them, Chris-
tian, all a hearing one time or another, and thou shalt see how they
will work upon thy ingenious spirit. It is with the Christian in
this case, as with some merchant's servant that keeps his master's
cash ; he tells his master he hath a great sum of his by him, and
desires he would discharge him of it, and see how his accounts
stand ; but he can never find him at leisure. There is a great trea-
sure of mercy always in the Christian's hands, and conscience is
oft calling the Christian to take the account, and see what God
has done for him, but seldom it is he can find time to tell his
mercies over ; and is it any wonder that such should go behind-
hand in their spiritual estate, who take no notice what the graci-
ous dealings of God are with them ? How can he be thankful
that seldom thinks of what he receives ? or patient when God af-
flicts, that wants one of the most powerful arguments to pacify a
mutinous spirit in trouble, and that is taken from the abundant
good we receive at the hands of the Lord, as well as a little evil ?
How can such a soul's love flame to God, that is kept at such a
distance from the mercies of God, which are fuel to it ? And the
like may be said of all the other graces. Secondly, reflect upon
thyself, aud bestow a few serious thoughts upon th}^ behaviour,
what it hath been, towards God and man all along the day. Ask
thy soul, as Elisha his servant. Whence comest thou, O my
my soul ? Where hast thou been ? What hast thou done for God
this day, and how ? And when thou goest about this, look that
thou neither beest taken off from a thorough search, as Jacob
was by Rachel's specious excuse, nor to be found to cocker thy-
self, as Eli his sons, when thou shalt upon inquiry take thy heart
tardy in any point of duty : take heed what thou doest, for thou
judgest for God, who receives the wrong by thy sin, and there-
fore will do himself justice if thou wilt not.

3, From meditation go to prayer j indeed, a soul in meditation
is on his way to prayer ; that duty leads the Christian to this, and
this brings help to that ^ when the Christian has done his utmost
by meditation to excite his graces, and chace his spirit into some

s 2 divine

278 Wherefore take unto you^ S(c.

divine heat, he knows all this is but to lay the wood in order.-tw
The fire must come from above to kindle, and this must be fetch-
ed by prayer. They say stars have greatest influences when they
are in conjunction with the sun ; then sure the graces of a saint
should never work more powerfully than in prayer, for then he
is in the nearest conjunction and communion wdth God. That
ordinance, which hath such power with God, must needs have a
mighty influence on ourselves. It will not let God rest, but rais-
eth him up to his people's succour ; and is it any wonder if it be
a means to rouse up and excite the Christian's grace ? How oft
do we see a dark cloud upon David's spirit at the beginning of his
prayer, which, by the time he is a little warm in his work, begins
to clear up, and, before he ends, breaks forth into high actings
of faith and acclamations of praise ? Only here. Christian, take
heed of formal praying : this i« as baneful to grace as not praying.
A plaister, though proper, aud of sovereign virtue, yet, if it be
laid on cold, may do more hurt than good.

4. To all the former, join fellowship and communion with the
saints thou livest amongst. No wonder to hear a house is robbed
that stands far from neighbours. He that walks in communion of
saints, he travels in company, he dwells in a city where one house
keeps up another, to whi<;h Jerusalem is compared. *Tis obsei v-
able, concerning the house in whose ruins Job's children were
intombed, that a wind came from the wilderness, and smote the
four corners of it ; it seems it stood alone. The devil knows what
he does in hindering this great ordinance of communion of saints ^
in doing this, he hinders the progress of grace^ yea, brings that
which Christians have into a declining wasting state. The
apostle couples those two duties close together, to hold fast our
profession, and comider one another;, and provoke unto love and
to good works f Heb. x. 23, 24. Indeed it is a dangerous step to
apostasy to forsake the communion of saints ; hence it is said of
liemas, He hath left us^ and embraced the present world, O,
what mischief has satan done us in these few late years, in this
one particular ! What is become of this communion of saints ?
Where are there two or three to be found that can agree to walk
together ? Those that could formerly suffer together, cannot sit
together at their Father's table, can hardly pray one with, or one
for another ; the breath of one Christian is strange to another that
once lay in his bosom.— 2'i^zV is a lamentation, and shall be for
a lamentation.

CHAP.

V^'Aat ye may he oBle to stand in the Hvil Day, 279

CHAP. V.

The Words opened^ and what is meant hy the JEvil Day,
ZThatye may be able to withstand in the Evil Diay^ and having

done, &;c,

'V\r'E» come to the argument with wliich the apostle urgeth the

^^ exhortation, and that is double.
The first hath respect to the hour of battle, That ye may be
able to withstand in the evil day,

'The second relatetTi to the happy issue of the war, whicli will
crown the Christian thus armed^ and that is certain victory ; and
having done all^ to stand.

First, Of the first. That ye may he able to withstand in the
evil day. But what is this evil day ? Some take this evil day to
comprehend the whole life of a Christian here below in this vale
of tears ; and then the argument runs thus : Take to yourselves
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to persevere to
the end of your life, which you will find, as it were, one continO-
cd day of trouble and trial. Thus Jacob draws a black line ovet
his whole life : Few and evil have the days of my life been, Gen.'
xlvii. What day sliipes so fair, tliat overcasts not before night,
nay, in which the Christian meets not with some shower or other,
enough to deserve the. naqae of. an evil day ? Every day hath its
portion, yea, proportioa : sufficient is the evil of the day. We
need not borrow and take up sorrows upon the use of the morrow,
to make up our present load. As we read of daily bread, so of a
43^ily cross, Luke ix. 24. which we are bid to take, jiot to make :
we need not make crosses for ourselves, as we are prone to do :
God in his providence will provide one for us ; and we are bid to
take it up, but we hear nothing of laying it down, till cross and
we lie down together ; our troubles and our lives are coetaneous,
live and die together; here when joy comes, sorrow is at its heel ;
staff and rod go together : Job himself (whose prosperity the devil
so grudged, and set forth in all his oraveryand pomp. Job i. 10.
as if his sun had no shadow), hear what account this good man
gives of this his most flourishing time, chap. iii. 26. I was not
in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet. There were
some troubles that broke his rest, when his bed was, to think-
ing, as soft as heart could wish; even now this good man tosses
and tumbles from one side to the other, and is not quiet. If one
should have come to Job, and blessed him with his happy condi-
tion, and said. Surely, Job, thou couldst be content with what
thou hast for thy portion, if thou mightest have all this settled on
^^l^ec, and thy heirs after thee : he would have said, as once Lur

s 3 ,, ther.

280 That ye may he able to stand

ther, That God should not put him ofF with these. Such is the
saints state in this bottom, that their very life here, and all the
pompous entertainments of it, they are all their cross, because
they detain them from their crown. We need nothing to make
our life an evil day, more than our absence from the chief good ;
which cannot be recompensed by the world, nor enjoyed with it.
Only this goodness there is in this evil, that it is short ; our life
is but an evil day, it will not last long ; and sure it was mercy
that God hath abridged so much of the term of man's life in these
last days, wherein so much of Christ and heaven are discovered,
that it would have put the saint's patience hard to it, to have
known so much of the upper world's glory, and then be kept so
long from it, as the fathers in the first age were. O comfort one
another, Christians, with this ; though your life be evil with
troubles, yet 'tis short ; a few steps, and you are out of the rain.
There is a great difference between a saint, in regard of the evils
he meets with, and the wicked ; as two travellers riding contra-
ry ways (both taken in the rain and wet), but one rides from the
rain, and so is soon out of the shower ; but the other rides into
the rainy corner, so that the^urther he goes, the worse he is. —
The saint, he meets with troubles as well as the wicked, but he
is soon out of the shower ; when death comes, he has fair wea-
ther : But the wicked, the further he goes, the worse ; what he
meets with here, is but a few drops ; the great storm is the last.
The pouring out of God's wrath shall be in hell, where all the
deeps of horror are opened, both from above of God's righteous
' fury, and from beneath of their own accusing and tormenting con-
sciences.

Secondly, Others take the phrase in a more restrained sense,
to denote those particular seasons of our life, wherein more espe-
cially we meet with afflictions and sufferings. Beza reads it,
tempojx adversOy in the time of our adversity. Though our whole
life be evil, if compared with heaven's blissful state, our clearest
day, night to that glorious morning ; j-et one part of our life,
compared with another, may be called good, and the other evil;
"we have our vicissitudes here. The providences of God to his
saints here, while on this low bottom of earth, are mixed and
party-coloured, as w^as signified bv the speckled horses in Zecha-
riah's vision, Ezek. i. 8. Red and white, peace and war, joy and
sorrow, chequer our days. Earth is a middle place betwixt hea-
ven and hell, and so is our state here ; it partakes of both 5 we
go up hill and down hill, till we get to our journey's end ; yea,
we find the deepest slough nearest to our Father's house : death,
I mean, into which all the other troubles of our life fall, as
streams into some great river, and with which they all end, and are
^wallowed up. This being the comprehensive evil, I conceive,

to

In the Evil Day. 281

to be meant here, being made remarkable by a double article,
^Afl^day, that evil day, not excluding those other days of tribu-
lation which intervene. These are but so many petty deaths,
every one snatching away a piece of our lives with them, or like
pages sent before, to usher in this king of terrors that comes be-
hind.

The phrase being opened, let us consider the strength of this
iirst argument, with which the apostle reinforceth his exhorta-
tion, of taking to ourselves the whole armour of God, and that
consists in three weighty circumstances.

First, The nature and quality of this day of affliction : it is an
evil day.

Secondly, The unavoidableness of this evil day of affliction,
implied in the form of speech, That you may withstand in the
evil day. He shuts out all hope of escaping ; as if he had said,
You have no way but to withstand ; please not yourselves with
thoughts of shunning battle ; the evil day must come, be you
armed or not armed.

Thirdly, The necessity of this armour, to withstand. As we
cannot run from it, so not bear up before it, and oppose the force
which will be made against us, except clad with armour. These
would afford several points ; but, for brevity, we shall lay them
together in one conclusion.

CHAP. VI.

^' Sheweth that the "Day of Affliction is evil^ and in what respects ;.
us also unavoidable ,• and why to be prepared for,

Doct» 1 T behoves every one to arm and prepare himself for the
evil day of affliction and death, which unavoidably he
must conflict with. The point hath three branches.

First, The day of affliction and death is an evil day.

Secondly, This evil day is unavoidable.

Thirdly, Tt behoves every one to provide for this evil day.

First, Of the first branch. — The day of affliction, especially
death, is an evil day. Here we must shew how affliction is evil,
and how not.

1 . It is not morally or intrinsically evil. If it were evil io
this sense, first, God could not be the author of it ; his nature is
so pure, that no such evil can come from him, any more than the
sun's light can make night. But this evil of affliction he vouchcth
for his own act ; Against this family do I devise an evih Micali

s 4? iii.

282 That ye may he able to stand j

iii. 2. Yea, more, he impropriates it so to himself, as that he wiU J
not have us think, any can do us evil beside himself. 'Tis the pre-
rogative he glories in, that there is no evil in the cit}^, but it is of
his doing, Amos iii. 6. And well it is for the saints, that their
crosses are all made in heaven ; they would not else be so fitted
to their backs as they are. But, for the evil of sin, he disowns
it, with a strict charge, that we lay not this brat, which is be-
gotten by satan, upon our impure hearts, at his door : JLet no man
say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God ; for God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempeth he any man. Jam. i. 13.

2. If affliction were iutrinsically evil, it could in no respect be
the object of our desire, which sometimes it is and may be. We
are to choose affliction, rather than sin, yea, the greatest afflic-
tion before the least sin. Moses chose affliction with the people
of God, rather than the pleasures of sin for a season. We are
bid to rejoice when we fall into divers temptations, that is, afflic-
tions.

But in what respects then may the day of affliction be called
evil?

1. As it is grievous to sense. In scripture, evil'is oft put as J
contradistinct to joy and comfort : We look for peace, and behold J
no good, A merry heart is called a good heart ; a sad spirit, an }
evil spirit ; because nature hath an abhorrency to all that op-
poseth its joy, and this every affliction doth more or less. No af-
fliction, while present, is joyous, but grievous, Heb. x^ 11 . : it
hath, like physic, an unpleasing farewell to the sense. Therefore
Solomon, speaking of the evil days of sickness, expresseth them
to be so distasteful to nature, that we shall say, We have no plea"
sure in them. They take away the joy of our life. Natural joy
it a true flower of the sun of prosperity ; it opens and shuts with
is. 'Tis true indeed, the saints never have more joy than in their
affliction ; but this comes in upon another score : they have a good
God that sends it in, or else they would be as sadly on it as others.
?Tis no more natural for comfort to spring from afflictions, than |
for grapes to grow on thorns, or manna in the wilderness. The
Israelites might have looked long enough for such bread, if heaven
had not miraculously rained it down. God chooseth this season,
to make the omnipotency of his love the more conspicuous : As
iiliijah, tp add to the ipiraclc, first caused water in abundance to
be poured on the wood and sacrifice, so much as to fill the trench,
and then brought lire from heaven by his prayer to lick it up. —
Thus God pours out the flood of affliction upon his children, and
then kindles that inward joy in their bosoms which licks up all
their sorrow ; yea, he makes the very waters of affliction they
iloat on, add a further swcetuess tp the mnsic of their spiritual
joy ; but still it is God that is good/and affliction that h evil.

: 2. The

In the Evil Day. 283

2. The day of affliction is an evil day, as it is an unwelconiB
remembrancer of what sinful evils have passed in our lives. It
revives the memory of old sins, which, it may be, were buried
many years ago in the grave of^ forgetfulness. The night of af-
fliction is the time when such ghosts use to walk in men's con-
sciences ; and as the darkness of the night adds to the horror of
any fearful object, so doth the state of affliction, which is itself
uncomfortable, add to the terror of our sins then remembered.—
Never did the patiiarchs sin look so ghastly on them, as when it
recoiled upon them in their distress, Gen. xlii. 21. The sinner
then hath more real apprehensions of wrath than at another time :
Aflliction approximates judgment; yea, it is interpreted by him,
as a pursuivant sent to call him presently before God, and there-
fore must beget a woeful confusion and consternation in his spirit.
Oh that men would think of this, how they could bear the sight
of. their sins, and a rehearsal sermon of all their ways in that day 1
That is the blessed- man indeed, who can with the prophet then
look on them, and triumph over them. This indeed is a dark ,
parable, as he calls it, few have skill of it ; as, Psal. xlix. 4, 5.
I will open my dark saying upon the harp ; wherefore should f
fear in the day of evil, when the ifiiquify of my heels compasseth
me about ?

3. The day of affliction makes discovery of much evil to be In
the heart, which was not seen before. Affliction shakes and stirs
the creature ; if any sediment be at the bottom, it will appear
then. Sometimes it discovers the heart to be quite naught, that
before had some seeming good ; these suds wash off the hypo-
crite's paint. When corrupt nature is vexed, it shews itself ; and
some afflictions do that to purpose. We read of such as are of-
fended when persecution comes ; they fall quite out with their '
profession, because it puts them to such cost and trouble ; others^
in their distress, that curse their God, Isa. viii. 21. It is im-
possible for a naughty heart to think well of ai) afflicting God.—
The hireling, if his master takes up a staff to beat him, throws
down his work and runs away ; and so doth a false heart serve
God. Yea, even where the person is gracious, corruption is oft
found to be stronger, and graces weaker, than they were thought
to be. Peter, who sets out so valiantly at first to walk on the
sea, the wind doth but rise, and he begins to sink : Now he sees

^ there was more unbelief in his heart than he before suspected. —
Sharp afflictions are to the soul, as a driving rain to the house :
We know not that there are such crannies and holes in the house,
till we see it drop down here and there. Thus we perceive not
how onmortified this corruption, not how weak that grace is, till
we are thus searched, and made more fully to know what is in
pur hearts by such trials^ This is the reason why none have such

hui^ble

284 That ye may he able to stand

hnmble thoughts of themselves, and such pitiful and forbear-
ing thoughts towards others in their infirmities, as those who are
most acquainted with afflictions ; they meet with so many foils
in their conflicts, as make them carry a low sail in respect of their
own grace, and a tender respect to their brethren, more ready to
pity than censure them in their weaknesses.

4. This is the season when the evil one satan comes to tempt.
What we find called the time of tribulation, Matt. xiii. %t, we
find in the same parable, Luke viii. 13. called the time of temp-
tation. Indeed they both meet ; seldom doth God afflict us, but
satan addeth temptation to our wilderness : This is your hour
(saith Christ), and the power of darkness, Luke xxii. 53. —
Christ's sufferings from man, and the temptation from the devil,
came together. Esau, who hated his brother for the blessing,
said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at
Jiand^ thenivill T kill my brother^ Gen. xxviii. 41. Times of
affliction are the days of mourning ; those satan waits for to do us
mischief in.

Lastly, The day of affliction hath oft an evil event and issue,
and in this respect proves an evil day indeed. All is well, we
say, that ends well ; the product of afflictions on the Christian is
good ; the rod with which they are corrected yields the peaceable
fruits of righteousness, and therefore they can call their afflictions
good ; that is a good instrument that lets out only the bad blood.
It was good for me that I was afjlictedy saith David. I have read
of a holy woman, who used to compare her afflictions to her chil-
dren ; they both put her to great pain in bearing ; but as she
knew not which of her children to have been without (for all the
trouble in the bringing forth), so neither which of her af-
ilictions she could have missed, notwithstanding the sorrow they
put her to in the enduring. But to the wicked the issue is sad ;
first, in regard of sin, they leave them worse, more impenitent^
hardened in sin, and outrageous in their wicked practices. Every
plague in Egypt added to the plague of hardness in Pharaoh's
heart : He that for some while could beg prayers of Moses for
himself, at last comes to that pass, that he threatens to kill him-
self, if he came to him any more. Oh, how greedy and ravenous
are they after their prey, when they once get off their clog and
chain from their heels I When physic works not kindly, it doth
not only leave the disease uncured, but the poison of the physic
stays in the body also. Many appear thus poiscn'.d by their af-
flictions, by the breaking out of their lusts afterwards. Secondly,
In regard of sorrow ; every affliction on a wicked person pro-
duceth another, and that a greater than itself: The greatest
wedge comes at last, which will cleave him fit for the fire^ The
pinner is whipt from affliction to affliction, as the vagrant from

constable

In the Evil Day, 285

constable to constable, till at last he comes to bell, bis proper
place and settled abode, where all sorrows will meet in one that
is endless.

Secondly, Tht second branch of the point follows. This evildav
is unavoidable. We may as well stop the chariot of the sun, when
posting to night, and chace away the shades of the evening, as
escape the hour of darkness that is coming upon us all. None
hath power over the spirit to retain it^ neither hath he power in
the day of death ; and there is no discharge in that var, Eccl.
viii. 8. Among men 'tis possible to get off when pressed for the
wars, by pleading privilege of years, estate, Xveakness of body,
protection from the prince, and the like ; orif all these fail, possibly
the sending another in our room, or a bribe given in the hand, may
serve the turn. But in this war, the press is so strict, that there is
ho dispensation. David would willingly have gone for his son ;
we hear him crying. Would God I had died for thee^ O Absalom^
my son^ my son ! But he will not be taken, that young gallant
must go himself. We must in our own person come into the field,
and look death in the face. Some indeed we find so fond, as to pro-
mise themselves immunity from this day, as if they had an insur-
ing-office in their breast : They say they have made a covenant
with death, and with hell they are at an agreement ; when the
overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto
them. And now, like debtors, they have feed the serjeant, they
walk abroad boldly, and fear no arrest. But God tells them, aS
fast as they bind, he will loose : Your covenant with death shall
he disannulled^ and your agreement with hell shall not stand —
And how should it, if God will not set his seal to it ? There is a
divine law for this evil day, which came in force upon Adam's
first sin ; that laid the fatal knife to the throat of mankind, which
hath opened a sluice to let out his heart-blood ever since. God, '
to prevent all escape, hath sown the seeds of death in our very
constitution and nature, so that we can as soon run from ourselves, '
as from death. We need no feller to come with a hand of vio-
lence and hew us down ; there is in the tree a worm, which grows
out of its own substance, that will destroy it; so in us, those infir-
mities of nature that will bring us down to the dust. Our death
was bred, when our life was first conceived ; and as a breeding
woman cannot hinder the hour of her travail, that follows in na-
ture upon the other, so neither can man hinder the bringing forth
of death, with which his life is big. All the pains and aches man
feels in his life, are but so many groans of dying nature ; they
tell him his dissolution is at hand. Beest thou a prince sitting in
all thy state and pomp, death dare enter thy palace, and coraC'
through all thy guards, to deliver the fatal message it hath from
God to thee j Jea, ruu its dagger to thy licart. Wert thou com-
passed

286 Thairje may he able to stand

passed with a college of doctors, consulting thy health, art an4
nature both must deliver thee np when that comes. Even when
thy strength is firmest, and thou eatest thy bread with a merry
iieart, that very food which nourisheth thy life, gives thee
withal an earnest of thy death, as it leaves those dregs in thee
which will in time procure the same. O! how unavoidable must
this evil day of death be,^when that very staff knocks us down to
the grave at last, which oiir life leans on, and is preserved by !
God owes a debt both to the first Adam, and second : To the
Jirst he owes the \vages of his sin ; to the second, the reward of
his sufferings. The place for full payment of both, is the other
world J so that except death comes to convey man thither, the
wicked, who are the posterity of the first Adam, will miss of that
full pay for their sins, which tlie threatening makes diie debt,
and engageth God to perform ; the godly also, who are the seed
of Christ, these shall not receive the whole purchase of his blood,
which he would never have shed but upon tlie credit of that pro-
«nise of eternal life, which God gave him for them before the
•world began : This is the reason why God hath made this day sa
•sure ; in it l>e dischargeth both bonds.

Thirdly, The third branch of the point follows, that it be-
lioves every one to prepare, and effectually to provide for this
f.v\\ day, which so unavoidably impends us : And that upon a
twofold account : First, in point of duty ; Secondly, in poiut of
■wisdom.

First, In point of duty. 1. It is upon our allegiance to the
great God, that we provide and arm ourselves against this day.
Suppose a subject were trusted with one of his prince's castles^
rand this man should hear that a puissant enemy was coming to
lay siege to this castle, yet takes no care to lay in arms aud pro-
vision for liis defence, and so 'tis lost; how could such a one be
cleared of treason ? Doth he not basely betray the place, and
with it his prince's honour into the enemy's hand ? Our souls
are this castle, which we are every one to keep for God : we have
•certain intelligence that satan hath a design upon them, and tjie
time when he intends to come with all his power of .darkness, to
be that evil da)^. Now as we should he found true to our trust,
we are obliged to stand upon our defence, and store ourselves with
what may enabje us to jnake a vigorous resistance. 2. We are
^obliged to provide for that day, as a suitable return for, and im-
provement of, the opportunities and means which God affords us
for this very end. We cannot, without shameful ingratitude to
God, make waste of those helps God gives us in order to this
:great work. Every one would cry out upon hiui that should
Jbasely spend that money upon riot in prison, which was sent him
jto procure his deliverance out of prison : And do we not blush

In fke Evil Day, 1tS7

tff bestow those talents upon our lusts and satan, which Gocl gra-
€iously indulgeth to deliver us from thera, and his rage in a d^in^
hour ? What have we bibles for, n)inister3 and preaching for^
if we mean not to furnish ourselves by them with armour for the
evil day ? In a word, what is the intent of God in lengthenings
out our days, and continuing us some \^l|ile here in the land of the
living ? Was it that we might have time to revel or rather ravel
out upon the pleasure of this vain world ? Doth he give us our
precious time to he employed in catching such butterflies as these
earthly honours and riches are ? It cannot be. Masters do not
use (if wise) to set their servants about such work as will not pay
for the candle they burn in doing it. And truly nothing less thai*
the glorifying of God, and saving our souls at last, cau be worth
the precious time we spend here. The great God hath a greater
end than most men think in this dispensation. If we would judge
aright, we should take his own iuterpretation of his actions ; and
the apostle Peter bids us count that the long^svffering of tht^
Jjord is salvation, 2 Pet. iii. 15. which place he quotes out of
Paul, as to the sense, though not in the same form of words^
which in Rom. ii. 4. are these. Or despisest thou the riches of
his goodness^ and forbearance^ and long-snjf cringe not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance 9 From
both places we are taught what is the mind of God, and the lan-
guage he speaks to us in by every moment's patience, and inch of
time that is granted to us» It is a space given for repentance. —
God sees (as we are) death and judgment could bring no good
news to us, we are in no case to welcome the evil day ; and there-
fore mercy stands up to plead for the poor creature in God's
bosom, and begs a little time more may be added to his life, that
by this indulgence it may be provoked to repent before he be
called to the bar. Thus we come by every day that is continualh^
super-added to our time on earth. And doth not this lay a sti^ong-
obligation on us to lay out every point of this time unto the same
end 'tis begged for ?

Secondly, In point of wisdom. The wisdom of a man appears
most eminently in two things. I. In the matter of his choice and '
chief care. 2. In a due time of this his choice and care.

1. A wise man makes choice of that for the subject of his chief
care and endeavour, which is of the greatest importance and con-
sequence to him : fools and children only are intent about toys asd
trifles ; they are as busy and earnest in making of a house of dirt
or cards, as Solomon was in making of his temple. Those poor
babes are as adequate to their foolish apprehensions, as great en-
terprises are to wise men. Now such is the importance of the
evil day, especially that of death, that it proves a man a fool, or
wise, as he comports himself to it. The end specifies evejy ac^

lioii.

' 288 That ye may he able to stand

tioa, and gives it the name of good or evil, of wise or foolish.—^
The evil day of death is, as the end of our days, so to be the end
of all the actions of our life. Such will our life be found at last,
as it hath been in order to this one day. Jf the several items of
our life, counsels and projects that we have pursued, when they shall
then be cast up, will amount to a blessed death, then we shall ap-
pear to be wise men indeed : But if after all our goodly plots and
policies for other things, we be unprovided for that hour, we must
be content to die fools at last ; and no such fool as the dying fool.
The Christian goes for the fool (in the world's account) w hile he
lives; but when death comes, the wise world will then confess
they miscalled him, and shall take it to themselves : We fools
counted his life to be madness^ and his end to be inthout honour :
Mat how he is now numbered among the children of God^ and his
lot among the saints I therefore have we erred from the waij of
truths Wisd. v. 4, 5. The place is apocryphal, but sinners will find
the matter of it canonical, 'Tis true indeed, saints are outwit-
ted by the world in the things of the world, and no marvel ; nei-
ther doth it impeach their wisdom any more, than it doth a scho-
lar's, to be excelled by the cobler in his mean trade. Nature,
where it intends higher excellencies, is more careless in those
things that are inferior ; as we see in man, who, being made to
excel the beasts in a rational soul, is himself excelled by some
beast or other in all his senses. Thus the Christian may well be
surpassed in matters of worldly commerce, because he hath a
nobler object in his eye, that makes him converse with the things
of the world in a kind of non-attendance ; he is not much careful
in these matters ; if he can die well at last, and be justified for a
wise man at the day of the resurrection, all is well ; he thinks it
uot manners to be unwilling to stay so long for the clearing of his
wisdom, as God can wait for the vindication of his own glorious
nature, which will not appear in its glory till that day, when he
will convince the ungodly of their hard thoughts and speeches of
him, Jude ii. 15. Then they shall, till then they will not be con-
vinced.

2. A wise man labours duly to time his care and endeavour for
the attaining of what he proposeth. 'Tis the fool that comes
when the market is done. As the evil day is of great concern-
ment in respect of its event, so the placing of our care for it in
the right season, is of chief importance, and that sure must be be-
fore it comes. There are more doors than one, at which the mes-
senger may enter that brings evil tidings to us, and at which he
will knock we know not ; we know not where we shall be arrest-
ed, whether at bed or board, whether at home or in the field,
w^hether among our friends, that will counsel and comfort us, or
among our enemies, that will add weight to our sorrow by their

cruelty.

In the Evil Bay. 289

cruelty. We know not when, whether by day or night (many of
us), nor whether in the morning, noon, or evening of our age. —
As he calls to work at all times of the day, so he doth to bed ;
may be while thou art praying or preaching, and it would be sad
to go away prophaning them and the name of God in them ; pos-
sibly when thou art about worse work, death may strike thy
quaffing cup out of thy hand, while thou art sitting in the ale-
house with thy jovial mates, or meet thee as thou art reeling
home, and make some ditch thy grave, that as thou livedst like a
beast, so thou shouldst die like a beast. In a word, we know not
the kind of evil God will use as the instrument to stab us ; whe-
ther some bloody hand of violence shall do it, or a disease out of
our bowels and bodies ; whether some acute disease, oi; some lin-
gering sickness ; whether such a sickness as shall slay the man
while the body is alive (I mean, take the head, and deprive us of
our reason), or not ; whether such noison*e troubles as shall make
our friends afraid to let us breathe on them, or themselves look
on us ; whether they shall be afflictions aggravated with satan's
temptations, and the terrors of our own affrighted consciences, or
not. Who knows where, when, or what the evil day shall be ?
Therefore doth God conceal these, that we should prepare for all.
Caesar would never let his soldiers know when or whither he
meant to march. The knowing of these would torment us with
distracting fear ; the not knowing them should awaken us to a
providing care. It is an ill time to caulk the ship when at sea,
tumbling up and down in a storm ; this should have been looked
to when on her seat in the harbour. And as bad it is to begin to
trim a soul for heaven, when tossing on a sick bed. Things that
are done in a hurry, are seldom done well : a man called out of
his bed at midnight, with a dismal fire on his house-top, cannot
stand to dress himself in order, as at another time, but runs dowa
with one stocking half on, may be, and the other not on at all. —
Those poor creatures, I am afraid, go in as ill a dress into another
world, who begin to provide for it when on a dying bed : con-
science calls them up with a cry of hell-fire in their bosoms ; but
alas ! they must go, though they have not time to put their armour
on ; and so they are put to repent at leisure in hell, for their
shuffling up a repentance in haste here. We come to the appli-
cation of the point.

CHAP,

^90 That ye may he able to stand

CHAP. VII.

The Application of the Point.

Use 1. THIRST, It reproves those that are so far from providing
^ for the evil day, that they will not suffer any thoughts
of that day to stay with them ; they are as unwilling to be led
into a discourse of this subject, as a child is to be carried into the
dark, and there left : It is a death to them to think of death, or
that which leads to it. As some foolishly think, they must needs
die presently when they have made their will, so these think they
liasten that sorrowful day by musing on it. The meditation of it
is no more welcome to them, than the company of Moses was to
Pharaoh : Therefore they say to it, as he to Moses, Get thee from
we, atid let me see thy face no more. The fear of it makes them
to butcher and make away all those thoughts which conscience
stirs up concerning it : And at last they get such a mastery of
their consciences, that they arrive to a kind of atheism ; it is as
rare to have them think or speak of such matters, as to see a fly
busy in winter: Nothing now but what is frolic and jocund, is
entertained by them. If any such thoughts come as prophecy
mirth, and carnal content, these, as right with their hearts, are
taken up into the chariot to sit with them, but all other are com-
manded to go behind. Alas, poor-spirited wretches ! something
might be said for you, if this evil day of death and judgment were
such entia rationis as had no foundation, or beino- but what our
jancies give them. Such troubles there are in the world, whicit
have all their evil from our thoughts ; when we are disquieted
with the scorns and reproaches of men, did we but not think of
them, they wei^ nothing ; but thy banishing the thoughts of this
evil day from thy mind, will be a poor short relief. • Thou canst
neither hinder its coming, nor take away its sting when it comes,
by the slighting it. Thou art like a passenger in a ship, sleep or
awake, thou art going thy voyage. Thou dost but like that
silly bird, who puts her head into a reed, and then thinks she is
safe from the fowler, because she sees him not. Thou art a fair
mark for God's vengeance ; he sees thee, and is taking his aim
at thee, when thou seest not him ; yea, thou puttest thyself
under an inevitable necessity of perishing, by not thinking of
this day. The first step to our safety is, consideration of our
danger.

JJse 2. It reproves those, who, if they think of the evil day,
yet it is so far off, that it is to little purpose. They will be sure
to set it at such a distance from them, as shall take away the force
of the meditation, that it shall not strike them down in the deep

sense

In tlie Evil Darj. 2^1

sense and fear of It. That cannon, which, if we stood at the
mouth of it, would shatter us limb from limb, will not so much as
scare them that get out of its reach. The further we put the
evil day, the weaker impression it makes on us. 'Tis true, say
sinners, it cannot be helped, we owe a debt to nature, it must be
paid : Sickness will come, and death follow on that, and judgment
brings up the rear of both. But alas I they look not for these
guests yet, they prophecy of these things a great while hence to
come ; many a fair day they hope will intervene. Thus, men are
very kind to themselves : First, they wish it may be long before
it comes ; and then, because they would have it so ; and whea
once they have made this promise, no wonder if they then live
after the rate of their vain hopes, putting off the stating of their
accounts, till the winter-eveniug of old age, when they shall not
have such allurement to gad abroad among the pleasures of this
life : O then they will do great matters to fit them for the evil
day. Bold man I who gave thee leave to cut out such large
thongs of that time which is not thine, but God's ? Who makes
the lease, the tenant, or the landlord ? Or dost thou forget thou
farmest thy life, and art not an owner ? This is the device of
satan, to make you delay ; whereas a present expectation of the
evil day, would not let you sit still unprepared. Oh, why do you
let your souls from their work, make them idle and rest from
their burdens, by telling them of long life, while death chops iu
upon you unawares ? Oh, what shame will your whorish hearts
be put to, that now say, your husband is gone afar off, you may
fdl yourselves with loves ; if he should come before he is looked
for, and find you in bed with your lusts ? And let me tell you,
sudden destruction is threatened, especially to such secure ones.
Head Matt. xxiv\ 48, 50, 51. where 'tis denounced against that
sort of sinners, who please themselves with their Lord's delaying
his coming. That ihe Lord of that servant shall come in a day
when he looketh not for him^ and in an hour that he is not aware
of. Indeed God must go out of his ordinary road of dealing with
sinners, if such escape a sudden ruin. One is bold to challenge
any to shew a precedent in scripture of any that are branded for
security, that some remarkable, yea, sudden judgment did not
surprise. Sodom, how soon after a sun-shine morning did the
heavens thicken, and bury them in a few hours, by a storm of fire,
in their own ashes ? Careless Laish, cut off, before they almost
think of it. Agag, when he saw the clouds of his fears break,
and fair weather was in his countenance, they return immediately
upon him, and shut him up in death ; he is presently hewn in
pieces. Amalek, slaughtered by David, before the triumph of
their late victory was cold. Nebuchadnezzar strutting himself
in bis palace, with this bravado in his mouth, Is net this great

T Babi/loti

292 • That ye may he able to stand

Babylon^ which 1 have built 9 And before he can get the words
out of his throat, there is another voice, falling from heaven, say-
ing, O King^ to tliee be it spoken^ thy kingdom is departed from
thee^ Dan. iv. 31 — 33. And the sanie hour it was fulfilled^ and
he sent to graze with the beasts. Dives blessing himself for many
years, and within a few hours the pillow is plucked from under

his head, and you hear no more of him, till out of hell he roar

Yea, a whole world (few persons excepted) drowned, and they
not know till the day the flood came. Matt. xxiv. 39. and swept
thera all away. And who art thou, O man, that promisest thy-
self an exemption, when kings, cities, a whole world, have been
ruined after this sort ?

Use 3, This reproves those who indeed think oft of this evil
day, much against their will, by reason of an awakened conscience,
that is ever pinching of them, and preaching on PauPs text (be-
tbre Felix) to them, till it makes them tremble, as he did ; yet
such is the power of lusts in their hearts, that it makes them spur
on, notwithstanding all the rebukes conscience gives them, and af-
frighting thoughts they have of the evil day ; yet they continue
in their old trade of sin desperately* The secure sinner, that has
broke prison from hrs conscience, is like a strong-brained drunk-
ard, he swallows down his sin, as the other does his drink, with
pleasure, and is not stirred at all. But here is a man that is
stomach-sick (as I may so say), his conscience is oft disgorging
his sweet draughts, and yet he will sin, though with pain and an-
guish. Oh consider, poor wretches, what you do ; instead of
arming yourselves against the evil day, you arm the evil day
against yourselves ; you are sticking the bed with pins and needles,
on which you must ere long be laid ; you are throwing billets
into that fiery furnace, wherein at last you shall be cast : And all
this, in spite of your consciences, which yet God mercifully sets
in your way, that the prickings of them may be as a hedge of
thorns, to keep thee from the pursuit of thy lusts. Know there-
fore, if thou wilt go on, that as thy conscience takes from the
pleasures of thy sin at present, so it will add to the horror of thy
torment hereafter.

Use 4. It reproves those, who, though they are not so violent
and outrageous in sin, to make them stink above ground in the
nostrils of others, yet rest in an unarmed condition ; they do not
fly to Christ for covering and shelter, against this day of storm
and tempest ; and the reason is, they have a lie in their right
hand, they feed on ashes, and a deceived heart carries them aside
from seeking after Christ. It would make one tremble to see how
confident many are with their false hopes and self-confidences, dar-
ing to come up (as Korah with his censer, as undauntedly as
Moses himself) even to the mouth of the grave, till on a sudden

they

In the Evil Bay. 293

they are swallowed up with destruction, and sent to be undeceiv-
ed in hell, who would not be beaten from their refuge of lies here.
Whoever thou art, O man, and whatever thou hast to glory in,
were it to the mast saint-like conversation that ever any lived on
earth, yet if this be thy shelter against the evil day, thou wilt
perish. No salvation when that flood comes, but Christ ; yea,
being in Christ, hanging on the outside of the ark by a specious
profession, will not save. Methinks I see how those of the old
world ran for their lives, some to this hill, and others to that high
tree, and how the waves pursued them, till at last they were swept
into the devouring flood. Such will your end be, that turn any
other way for help than to Christ ; j^et the ark waits on you, yea,
comes up close to your gate to take you in. Noah did not put
forth his hand more willingly to take in the dove, than Christ doth
to receive thovse who fly to him for refuge. Oh, reject not your
own mercies for lying vanity I

luet this put thee upon the enquiry, whoever thou art, Whe-
ther thou beest in a posture of defence for this evil day ? Ask
thy soul, soberly and solemnly, Art thou provided for this day,
this evil day ? How couldst thou part with what that will take
away, and welcome what it will certainly bring ? Death comes
with a voider to carry away all thy carnal enjoyments, and to
bring thee up a reckoning for them. Oh, canst thou take thy
leave of the one, and with peace and confidence read the other ?
Will it not affright thee to have thy health and strength turned
into faintness and feebleness ; thy sweet nights of rest, into wak-
ing eyes, and restless tossings up and down ; thy voice, that has
so often chaunted to the viol, to be now acquainted with no other
tune but sighs and groans ? Oh, how canst thou look upon thy
sweet and dear relations, with thoughts of removing from them ;
yea, behold the instrument, as it were, whetting, that shall give
the fatal stroke to sever soul and body ? Think that thou wert
now half dead in thy members, that are most remote from the
fountain of life, and death to have but a few moments journey
before it arrive to thy heart, and so beat the last breath out of thy
body. Possibly the inevitable necessity of these do make thee
to harden thyself against them ; this might inde'ed, in some hea-
then that is not resolved whether there be another world or no,
help a little to blunt the edge of that terror, which otherwise
would cut deeper into his amazed heart. But if thou believest
another world, and that judgment which stands at death's back,
ready to allot thee thy unchangeable state in bliss or misery -^
surely thou canst not relieve thy awakened conscience with such
a poor cordial. Oh, therefore, think what answer thou meanest
to give unto the great God, at thy appearing before him, when
he shall ask thee. What canst thou say, why the sentence of

T 2 eternal

!^94 That ye may he able to stand

eternal damnation should not then be pronounced against thee ?
Truly, we deal unfaithfully with our own souls, if we bring not
our thoughts to this issue.' If now you should ask, How you
should provide against the evil day, so that you may stand before
that dreadful bar, and live so, in the mean time, that you might
not be under a slavish bondage, through the fearful expectation o£
it ; take it in a few directions.

First, If ever you would have a blessed issue of this evil day^
so as to stand in judgment before the great God, rest not till thou
hast got into a covenant-relation with Christ, Dying David's
living comfort was drawn from the covenant God had made with
him ; this was all his desire and all his salvation. How canst
thou put thy head into the other world without horror, if thou
hast not solid ground that Christ will own thee for his ? Heaven
hath its proper heirs, and so hath hell. The heirs of heaven are
such as are in covenant with God : the foundation of it was laid
in a covenant, and all the mansions there are prepared for a peo-
ple in covenant with him : Gather wy saints together that hax'e
made a covenant with me. But how mayest thou get into this
covenant-relation? First, break thy covenant with sin. Thou
art by nature a covenant-servant to sin and satan ; may be thoa
hast not expressly, in words and formally, as witches, sealed this
covenant, yet, virtually, as thou hast done the work of satan, and
been at the command of thy lusts, accepting the reward of un-
righteousness (the pleasure and carnal advantages they have paid
thee in for the same), therein thou hast declared thyself to be so.
!Now if ever thou wilt be taken into covenant with God, break
this : a covenant with hell and heaven cannot stand together.

Secondly, Betroth thyself to Christ. The covenant of grace
'is the jointure which God settles only upon Christ's spouse. Re-
becca had not the jewels and costly raiment, till she was promised
to become Isaac's wife, Gen. xxiv. 53. All the promises are yea
and amen in Christ, If once thbu receivest Christ, with him
thou receivest them. He that owns the tree, hath right to all the
fruit that is on it. Now that thou mayest not huddle up a mar-
riage between Christ and thee, so as to be disowned of Christ,
and it prove a nullity at last ; it behoves thee to look to it, that
there be found in thee what Christ expects in every soul that he
cspouseth. First, therefore, consider whether thou canst heartily
love the person of Christ. Look wishfully on him again and again,
as he is set forth in all his spiritual excellencies ; are they such
as thy heart can close with ? Doth his holy nature, and all those
heavenly graces with which he is beautified, render him desirable
to thee ? Or couldst thou like him better if he were not so pre-
cise and exactly holy ? Yea, is thy heart so inflamed with a desire
of him, that thou canst love him with a conjugal love ? A woman

may

In the Evil Day. 295

may love one as a friend, whom she cannot love so as to make
liira her husband. A friendly love may stand with a love of sonae
t)ther equal to it, yea, superior ; but a conjugal love is such as
will bear neither. Canst thou find in thy heart to forsake all
other, and cleave to Christ ? Does thy heart speak thee ready,
and present thee willing, to go with thy sweet Jesus, though he
carry thee from father and mother's house ? Is thy confidence
such of his power to protect thee from all thy enemies, sin, wrath,
and hell, that thou canst resolvedly put the life of thy soul into his
hands, and be saved by the sole virtue of his blood, and his omni-
potent arm ; and of his care to provide for thee in this life and
the other, that thou canst acquiesce in what he proiiiiseth to do
for thee ? In a word, if thou hast Christ, thou must not only love
him, but, for his sake, all thy new kindred, which by thy mar-
riage to him thou shalt be allied unto. How canst thou like to
call the saints thy brethren ? Canst thou love them heartily, and
forget all the old grudges thou hast had against them ? Some of
them thou wilt find poor and persecuted, yet Christ is not asham-
ed to call them brethren, neither must thou. If thou findest thy
heart now in such a disposition as suits these interrogatories, I
dare not deny the banns, yea, I dare not but pronounce Christ and
thee husband and wife. Go, poor soul (if 1 may call so glorious
a bride poor), go, and comfort thyself with the expectation of thy
Bridegroom's coming for thee ; and when the evil day approaches,
and death itself draws nigh, look not now with terror upon it, but
rather revive with old Jacob, to see the chariot which shall carry
thee over unto the embraces of thy Husband, whom thou bearest
to be in so great honour and majesty in heaven, as may assure
thee he is able to make thee welcome when thou comest there. —
Amongst the all things which are ours by being Christ's, the
apostle forgets not to name this to be one, death is ours : And
well he did «o, or else we should never have looked upon it as a
gift, but rather as a judgment. Now, soul, thou art out of any
danger of hurt tliat the evil day can do thee. Yet there remains
something for thee to do, that thou mayest walk in the comfortable
expectation of the evil day. We see that gracious persons may,
for want of a holy care, fall into such distempers, as may put a
sting into their thoughts of the evil day. David, that at one time
would not fear to wal/c in the valley of the shadow of deaf h., is so
affrighted at another time, when he is led towards it,* that he cries.
Spare wie, O Lordj that I recover my strength, before I go
hence, Psal. xxxix. The child, though he loves his father, may
do that which may make him afraid to go home. Now, Chris-
tian, if thou wouldst live in a comfortable expectation of the evil
4ay,

first. Labour to die to this life, and the enjoyments of it every

T 3 day

296 ' That ye may he able tb stand

day more an^ more. Death is not so strong to hina, whose na-
tural strength has been wasted by long pining sickness, as it is to
him that lies but a few days, and has strength of nature to make
great resistance. Truly thus it is here, that Christian, whose
love to this life, and the contents of it, hath been for many years
consuming and dying, will with more facility part with them, than
he whose love is stronger to them. All Christians are not morti-
fied in the same degree to the world. Paul tells us he died daily^
he was ever sending more and more of his heart out of the world,
so that by that time he came to die, all his affections were packed
up and gone, which made him the more ready to follow, spey(iomaj\
I am ready to be offered up, 2 Tim. iv. 6. If it be but a tooth
to pull out, the faster it stands, the more pain we have to draw it.
O loosen the roots of thy affections from the world, and the tree
will fall more easily.

Secondly, Be careful to approve thyself with diligence and
faithfulness to God in thy place and calling. The clearer thoa
standest in thy own thoughts, concerning the uprightness of thy
heart in the tenor of thy Christian course, the more cbmposure
thou wilt have when the evil day comes. I beseech thee, O Lord,
(said good Hezekiah, at the point of death, as he thought,) re-
member now Jww 1 have walked before thee in truth, and with a
perfect hearty and have done that which is good in thy sight, —
This cannot be our confidence, but it will be a better companion
than a scolding conscience : If the blood be bad, the spirits will
be tainted also ; the more our life hath been corrupted with hy-

130crisy and unfaithfulness, the weaker our faith will be in a dying
lour. There is great difference between two children that come
home at night, one from the field, where he hath been diligent
and faithful about his father's work, and another that hath played
the truant a great part of the day ; the former comes in confi-
dently to stand before his father, the other sneaks to bed, and is
afraid his father should see him, or ask him where he hath been.
O, sirs, look to your walking : These have been trying times as
ever came to England ; it has required more care and courage to
keep sincerity than formerly. And that is the reason why it is
so rare to find Christians, especially those whose place and calling
hath been more in the wind of temptation, go off and stage at
death with such ^ plaudite of inward peace in their bosoms.

Thirdly, Familiarize the thoughts of the evil day to thy soul ;
handle this serpent often, walk daily in the serious meditations of
it, do not run from them because they are unpleasing to flesh, that
is the way to increase the terror of it. Do with your souls, when
shy of, and scared with the thoughts of affliction or death, as you
use to do with your beast that is given to boggle and start as you
ride oa Iiim , when he flies back and starts at a thing, you do not

vield

In the EvU Day. 897

yield to his fear and go back, that will make him worse andther
time, but you ride him close up to that which he is afraid of, and
in time you break him of that quality. The evil day is not such
a scareful thing to thee that art a Christian, as thou shouldst start
for it. Bring up thy heart close to it ; shew thy soul what Christ
hath done to take the sting out of it ; what the sweet promises
are that are given on purpose to overcome the fear of it, and whart
thy hopes are thou shalt get by it. These will satisfy and com-
pose thy spirit, whereas the shunning the thoughts of it will but
increase thy fear, and bring thee more into bondage to it.

»%%%»%»^v»%%»%>.^»<»»%%^%%»<» ^ » % v»

CHAP. VIII.

T//e Second Argument uith which the Exhortation is pressed^
drawn from the assured Victory which shall crown the Soul's
Conflict, if in this Armour ; where several Points couched in
the Argument are hritfiy handled*

VifTE come now to the second argument the apostle useth, fur-
^ " ther to press the exhortation ; and that is taken from the
glorious victory which hovers over the heads of believers while in
the fight, and shall surely crown them in the end ; this is held
forth in these words, And having done all^ to stand. The phrase
is short, but full.

SECT. I. — First observe, heaven is not won with good words
and a fair profession : Having done all. The doing Christian is
the man that shall stand, when the empty boaster of his faith shall
fall. The great talkers of religion are oft the least doers. His
religion is in vain, whose profession brings no letters testimonial
from a holy life. Sacrifice without obedience is sacrilege. Such
rob God of that which he makes most account of. A great cap-
tain once smote one of his soldiers for railing at his enemj'^, say-
ing. That he called him not to rail on him, but to fight against
him, and kill him. 'Tis not crying out upon the devil, and de-
claiming against sia is prayer or discourse, but fighting and mor-
tifying it, that God looks chiefly upon ; such a one else doth but
beat the air, there are no marks to be seen on his flesh and un-
mortified lusts that he hath fought. Paul was in earnest, he left
a witness upon his body, made black and blue with the strokes of
mortification. It was not a little vapouring in sight of the Phi-
iistines that got David his wife, but shedding their blood : and is
it so small a matter to be son to the King of heaven, that thou

T 4 thinkest

298 And having done all, to stand.

thinkest to obtain it without giving a real proof of thy zeal for
God, and hatred to sin ? Not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of
the work : this man (saith the apostle) shall be blessed in his
deed. Jam. i. 25. Mark, not by his deed but in his deed ; he
shall meet blessedness in that way of obedience he walks in. The
empty professor disappoints others, who, seeing his leaves, ex-
pects fruit, but finds none ; and at last he disappoints himself, be
thinks to reach heaven, but shall miss of it. TertuUian speaks of
some that think. Satis l^eum habere^ si corde <Sc animo suspicia-
fur, licet actu minus fiat : God hath enough, (they think), if he
be feared and reverenced in their hearts, though in their actions
they shew it not so much, and therefore they can sin, and believe
in God, and fear him never the worse : this (saith he) is to play
the adulteress, and yet be chaste ; to prepare poison for one's
father, and yet be dutiful ; but let such know, (saith the same
father,) that if they can sin and believe, God will pardon them
with a contradiction also : he'll forgive them, but they shall
be turned into hell for all that. As ever you would stand at last,
look yon be found doing the work your Lord hath left you to make
vp, and trust not to lying words, as the prophet speaks, Jer. vii.

SECT. II — Doct. 'Z, Secondly observe. That such is the
mercy of God in Christ to his children, that he accepts their
weak endeavours, joined with sincerity and perseverance in his
service, as if they were full obedience, and therefore they are
here said to have done all, O, who would not serve such a Lord I
You hear servants sometimes complain of their masters to be so
rigid and strict, that they can never please them ; no, not when
they do their utmost : But this cannot be charged upon God —
Be but so faithful as to do thy best, and God is so gracious that he
will pardon thy worst. David knew this gospel indulgence, when
he said. Then I shall not be ashamed tvhen I have respect to all
thy commandments, Psal. cxix. 6. when my eye is to all thy com-
mandments. The traveller hath his eye on or towards the place
he is going, though he be but yet short of it ; there he would be, and
is putting on all he can to reach it : So stands the saint's heart to
all the commands of God ; he presseth on to come nearer and near-
er to full obedience ; such a soul shall never be put to shame — J
But wo to those that cover their sloth with the name of infirmity, .
yea, that spend their zeal and strength in the pursuit of the world
of their lusts, and then think to make all up when charged there-
with, That it is their infirmity, and they can serve God no bet-
ter. These do by God, as those two by their prince (Francis
the first of France) who cut off their right-hand one for another,
and then made an excuse they were lame, and so could not serve
in his galleys, for which they were sent to the gallows. Thus
niany will be found at last to have disabled themselves, by refus-
ing

I

Afid Iiavmg dbne allj to stand, 299

ing tliat help the spirit hath offered to tliem ; yea, wasted what
they had given tJiem, and so shall be rewarded for hypocrites as
they are. God knows how to distinguish between the sin-
cerity oF a saint, in the midst oF his infirmities, and the shifts of
H false heart. But we will wave these, and briefly speak to fonr
points, which lie clearly in the words.

First, Here is the necessity of perseverance, Having done all.

Secondl)', Here is the necessity oF divine arinour, to persevere
till we have done all. WhereFore else bids he them take this ar-
mour for this end, iFtliey could do it without ?

Thirdly, Here is the certainty of persevering and overcoming
at last, it' clad with this armour, else it were small encourage-
ment to bid them take that armour which would not surely defend
them^

Fourthly, Here is the blessed result oF the saints perseverance
propounded, as that which will abundantly recompence all their
pain and patience in the war, having done all^ to stand. From
these follow four distinct points.

First, He that will be Christ's soldier must persevere.

Secondly, There can be no perseverance without true grace m
the heart.

Thirdly, Where true grace is, that soul shall persevere.

Fourthly, To stand at the end oF this war, will abundantly re^
compence all our hazard and hardship endured in the war.

SECT. Ill Doct. 1. He that will be Christ's soldier, must

persevere to the end oF his liFe in this war against satan. This
having done ally comes in after our conflict with death : That ye
Quay he able to withstand in the evil day : Then follows, And
having done all. We have not done all 'till that pitched battle
be fought. The last enemy is death. The word Katergazesfai,
imports as much as to finish a business, and bring a matter to a
full issue ; so Phil. ii. 12. where we translate it well, wot^k out
your salvation ; that is, perfect it, be not Christians by halves,
but go through with it ; the thorough Christian is the true Chris-
tian. Not he that takes the field, but he that keeps the field;
not he that sets out, but he that holds out in this holy war, de-
serves the name oFa saint. There is not such a thing in this sense
belonging to Christianity, as an honourable retreat ; not such a
word of command, in all Christ's military discipline, as. Fall
back, and lay down your arms ; No, you must fall on, and stand
to your arms, till called oflf by death.

First, We are under a covenant and oath to do this. Forraer-
Jy soldiers nsed to take an oath not to flinch from their colours,
but faithfully to cleave to their leaders ; this they called Sacra-
mentum ntihfare, a militar)^ oath ; such an oath lies upon every
Christian. It is so esseotial to the being of a saint, that they are

described

30D And having done all^ to stand,

described by this, Psal. 1. 5. Gather my saints together, those
that have made a covenant with me. We are not Christians till
we have subscribed this covenant, and that without any reserva-
tion. When we take upon us the profession of Christ's name, we
list ourselves in his muster-roll, and by it do promise, that we
will live and die with him in opposition to all his enemies. Kvery
nation will walk in the tiatne of his god^ and we will walk in the
naine of our God: And what is it to walk in the name of our
God, but to fight under the banner of his gospel, wherein his
name is displayed, by giving an eternal defiance to sin andsatan ?
If a captain had not such a tie on his soldiers, he might have them
to seek when the day of battle comes : Therefore Christ tells us
npon what terms he will enrol us among his disciples : If any man
will be my disciple ^ let him deny himself and take tip his crosSy
and follow me. He will not entertain us till we resign up our-
selves freely to his disposal, that there may be no disputing with
his commands afterwards, but as one under bis authority, go and
come at his word.

Secondly, Perseverance is necessary, because our enemy perse-
veres to oppose us. There is no truce in the devil's heart, no
cessation of arms in our enemy's camp. If an enemy continue to
assault a city, and they within cease to resist, it is easy to tell
what will follow. The prophet that was sent to Bethel did his
errand well, withstood Jeroboam's temptation, but in the way
home was drawn aside by the old prophet, and at last slain by a
lion. Thus many fly from one temptation, but not persevering
are vanquished by another ; those that at one time escape his
sword, at another time are slain by it. Joash was hopeful when
young, but it lasted not long. Yea, many precious servants of
God, not making such vigorous resistance in their last days as in
their first, have fallen foully, as we see in Solomon, Asa, and
others. Indeed it is hard when a line is drawn to a great length,
to keep it so straight that it slacken not, and to hold a thing long
in our hand, and not to have a numbness grow in our fingers, so
as to remit of our strength ; therefore we are bid so often to hold
fast the profession of our faith ; but when we see an enemy gaping
to catch us when we fall, methiuks this should quicken us the
more to it.

Thirdly, Because the promise of life and glory is settled upon
the persevering soul ; the crown stands at the goal, he hath it
that comes to the end of the race. To him that overcomes^ ivill
I give, not in prcelio^ hut in bello, not in a particular skirmish,
but in the whole war. Ye have need of patience^ that after ye
have done the ivhole will of God^ ye might receive the promise^
Heb. X. SQ. There is a remarkable accent on that hencejorth
which Paul mentions, 2 Tim. iv. 7* 8. I have fovglit a good

fight^

^nd huving done ali, to stand. 301

fgkf, henceforth w laid itp for me a crown of ri'ghteomneAH. —
Vi\\Y^ was it not laid up before ? yes, but having persevered and
come near the goaJ, being witjhin sight of home, ready to die, he
takes ooiv surer hold of tie promise. Indeed in this sense it is,
that a gracious soul is nearer its salvation after every victoiy than
it was before, because he approacheth nearer the end of his I'ace,
which is the time promised for the receiving of the promised sal-
vation, Rom. xiii. 10. Then, and not till theu the garland drops
upon his head.

Use. Hei^ we may take up a sad lamentation, in respect of
the many apostate professors of our days. Never was this spi-
ritual falling-sickness moi-e rife : O how many are sick of it at
present, ai>d not a few fallen asleep by it I These times of war
and confusion have not made so many broken merchants, as bro-
ken professors : wher€ is the congregation that cannot shew some
who have outlived their profession ? Not unlike the silk-worm,
which (they say) after all her spinning, works herself out of her
bottom, and becomes at last a common fly. Are there not maoy<>
whose forwardness in religion we have stood gazing on with admi-
ration, as the disciples on the temple, ready to say to one another,
as they to Christ, See what manner of stones these are I what po-
lished gifts and shining graces ai-e here ! and now not one stone
left upon another. Oh did you ever think, that they who went
in so goodly array towards heaven in communion with you, would
after that, face about, and run over to the devil*sside, turn blas-
phemers, wordlings, and atheists, as some have done ? Oh what
a sad change is here ? It had been better for them not to have
knoivn the waif of righteousness^ than after they have known tt^
to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto fhetn, 2 Pet.
it. 21. Better nei'er to have walked a step towards heaven, thaa
to put suoh a scorn and reproach upon the ways of God. Such a
one who hath known what a service satan*s is, and what God's is,
then to revolt from God to the devil, seems to have compared one
with the other, and as the result of his mature thoughts, to pro-
nounce the devil's, which he chooseth, better than God's, which
he leaveth. And how is it possible that any can sin by a higher
guilt, and go to hell under greater load of wrath ? These are they
which God loathes. He that hates putting away, disdains much
more to be himself thus put away. Jf any man draw back^ my
soul shall have no pleasure in him^ Heb. x. 31 . The apostate is
said to tread upon the Son of God, Heb. x. 29. as if he were no
better than the dirt under his feet. Well, he shall have treading
for treading, God himself will set his foot upon him, Psal. cxix.

118, Thou hast trodden down all that err from thy stahtles .

And who (think you) will be weary soonest ? He that is under
foot, bears the weight of the whole man upon him. To be under

the

S02 And having done all., to stand.

the foot of God, is to lie under the whole weight of God's wrath.
Oh pity and pray for such forlorn souls : they are objects of the
one, and subjects of the other ; though they are fallen low, yet
not into hell : now and then we see an Eutychus raised, that hath
fallen from such a height. And i/ou that stand^ take heed lest
ijoufalL

SECT. IV. — Doct, 2. Secondly, A soul void of divine ar-
mour cannot persevere. What this divine armour is, I have
shewn, and the apostle here doth in the several pieces of it.— .
The sanctifying graces of God's spirit, are this armour : One that
Iiath not these wrought in him, will never hold out to pass all the
stages of this Christian race, to fight all the battles that are to be
fought before victory is to be had. Common gifts of the spirit,
such as illumination, conviction, sudden pangs and flushing heats
of affection may cany out the creature for a while with a goodly
appearance of zeal for God, and forwardness in profession ; but
the strength these affords is soon spent. John's hearers, men-
tioned John V. 35. got some light and heat by sitting under his
burning ministry ; but how long did it last ? Ye are willing to
rejoice for a season* They were very beautiful colours that were
drawn on them, but not laid in oil, and therefore soon washed off
again. The foolish virgins made as great a blaze with their
lamps, and did expect as good a day when Christ should come, as
the wise virgins ; but alas I their lamps are out before he ap-
peared, and as good never a whit as never the better. The stony
ground more forward than the best soil ; the seed comes up im-
mediately, as if a crop should soon have been reaped, but a few
nipping frosts turn its hue, and the day of the harvest proves a
day of desperate sorrow. All these instances, and many more
in scripture do evince, that nothing short of solid grace, and a
principle of divine life in the soul, will persevere. How forward
soever formalists and slighty professors are to promise to them-
selves hopes of reaching heaven, they will find it too long a step
for their short-breathed souls to attain. The reasons are.

First, Such want a principle of divine life to draw strength
from Christ to preserve them in their course, liat by which the
gracious soul itself perseveres, is the continual supply it receives
iVoni Christ ; as the arm and foot is kept alive in the body by
those vital spirits which they receive from the heart : 1 live (saith
Paul), i/e/ not If but Christ in me ; that is, 1 live, but at Christ's
cost ; he holds, as my soul, so my grace in life. Now the carnal
person wanting this union, must needs waste and consume in time ;
lie hath no root to stand on. A carcase, when once it begins to
rot, never recovers, but every day grows worse till it runs all into
putrefaction ; no salve or plaister will do it good ; but where
thexe is a principle of life, there when a member is wounded, na-
ture

And having done all, to stand. 303

ture sends supplies of spirits, and helps to work, with the salve for
a cure. There is the same difference between a gracious person
and an ungracious : See them opposed in this respect, Prov. xiv-
17, The righteous man falls seven times a day^ and riseth ; but
the wicked falleth into mischief : tliat is, in falling he falls fur-
ther, and hath no power to recover himself. AVhen Cain sinned,
see how he falls further and further, like a stor.e down a hill, ne-
ver stays till he comes to the bottom of despair ; from envying
his brother to malice, from malice to murder, from murder to im-
pudent lying, and brazen-faced boldness to God himself, and from
that to despair; so true is that, 2 Tim. ii. 13. Evil men shall
wax worse and tvorse. But now when a saint falls, he riseth, be-
cause when he falls, he hath a principle of life to cry out to
Christ, and such an interest in Christ as stirs him to help : jLo/'«?,
save 7we, said Peter, (when he began to sink), and presently
Christ's hand is put forth ; he chides him for his unbelief, but hu
helps him.

Secondly, An unregenerate soul hath no assurance for the con-
tinuance of those common gifts of the spirit he hath at present;
they come on the same terms that temporal enjoyments do to suck
a one. A carnal person, when he hath his table most sumptuous-
ly spread, cannot shew any word of promise under God's hand,
that he shall be provided for the next meal. God gives these
things to the wicked, as we do a crust or night's lodging to a beg-
gar in our barn ; 'tis our bounty, such a one could not sue us for
denying the same : So in the common gifts of the spirit, God
was not bound to give them, nor is he to continue them. Thoa
hast some knowledge of the things of God, thou iiiayest for all
this die without knowledge at last : thou art a sinner in chains^
restraining grace keeps thee in ; this may be taken off, and thou
let loose to thy lusts as ever. And how can he persevere, that in
one day may from praying fall to cursing ; from a whining com-
plaining conscience, come to have a seared conscience ?

Thirdly, Every unregenerate man, when most busy with pro-
fession, hath those engagements lie upon him, that will neces-
sarily, when put to it, take him off, one time or other. One is
engaged to the world ; and when he can come to a good market
for that, then he goes away ; he cannot have both, and now he
will make it appear which he loves best : Demas hath forsaken
its, and embraced this present world. Another is a slave to his
lust ; and when this calls him, he must go in spite of profession,
conscience, God, and all. Herod feared John, and did many
things ; but love is stronger than fear: his love to Ucrodias over-
comes his fear of John, and makes him cut ofFat once the head of
John, and the hopeful buddings which appeared in the te.nderness
©f his conscience, and begun reformation. One root of b* tterness

or

304 ^nd having done all, to stand,

or other will spring up in such a one. If the complexioft of the
soul be propbane, it will at last come to it, however for a while
there may be some religious colour appear in the maH*s face from
some other external cause.

Use* This shews us what is the root of all final apostacy ; an4
that is, the want of a thorough change of the heart. I'he apostate
^oth not lose the grace he bad, but discovers he never had any ;
and 'ris no wonder to hear that he proves bankrupt, that was
worse than nought when he first set up. Many take up their
saintship upon trust, and trade in the duties of religion with the
credit the}' have gained from others opinion of them. They be-
lieve themselves to be Christians, because others hope them to be
such ; and so their great business is, by a zeal in those exercises
of religion that lie outmost, to keep up the credit they have abroad,
but do not look to get a stock of solid grace within, which should
maintain them in their profession ; and this proves their undoing
at last. Let it therefore make us, in the fear of God, to conside?
upon what score we take up our profession. Is there that within
which bears proportion to our outward zeal ? Have we laid a
«*ood bottom ? Is not the super-structure top-heavy, jetting too
far beyond the weak foundation ? They say, trees shoot as much
in the roots under ground as in the branches above, and so doth
true grace. O remember what was the perishing of the seed iii
stony ground ; it lacked root, and whj^so? but because it was
stony. Be willing the plough should go deep enough to humble
thee for sin, and rend thy heart from sin. The soul effectually
brought out of the love of sin as sin, will never be thorough friends
with it again. In a word, be serious to find out the great spring
that sets all thy wheels on motion in thy religious trade. Do as
men that would know how much they are worth, who set what
they owe on one side, and what stock they have on the other r
and then when they have laid out enough to discharge all debts
and engagements, what remains to themselves they niaj^^ call their
own. Thus do thou consider what thou standest engaged to, thy
worldly credit, profit, slavish fear of God, and selfish desire of
happiness ; and when thou hast allowed for all these, see then
what remains of thy fear of God, love to God, &lc. If nothing,
thou art naught ; if any, the less there be, the weaker Christian
thou art; ; and when tiiou comest to be tried in God*s fire, thou
wilt suffer loss of all the other, which as hay and stubble will be
burnt up.

SECT. V — Docf. 3. Every soul clad with this armour of
God, shall stand and persevere. Or this, True grace caa ne-
ver be vanquished. The Christian is born a conqueror, the gates
of hell shall not prevail against him. He that t's born of God
overcometh the worlds 1 John v. 4. Mark from whence the vic-
tory

And having done all^ to stand, 305

tory is dated, even from His birtli : there is victory sown in his
new nature, even that seed of God, which will keep him from
being swallowed up by sin or satan. As Christ rose, never to die
more ; so doth he raise souls from the grave of sin, never to come
under the power of spiritual death more. These holy ones of
God cmmot see corruption. Hence he that believes, is said ia
the present tense to have eternal life. As the law that came four
hundred years after could not make void the promise to Abraham ;
so nothing that intervenes can hinder the accomplishing of that
promise of eternal life, which was given and passed to Christ in
their behalf, before the foundation of the world. If a saint could
any wise miscarry and fall short of this eternal life, it must be
from one of these three causes. 1. Because God may forsake
the Christian, and withdraw his grace and help from him ; Or,
2. Because the believer may forsake God ; Or, lastly. Because
satan may pluck him out of the hands of God. A fourth I know
not. Now none of these can be.

First, God can never forsake the Christian. Some unadvised
speeches have dropt from tempted souls, discovering some fears of
CSlod's casting them oif; but they have been confuted, and have
eaten their words with shame, as we see in Job and David. Oh
what admirable security hath the great God given his children in
this particular I

1 . In promises. He hath said^ I uHl never have thee nor
forsake thee^ Heb. xiii. 5. Five negatives in that promise, as so
many seals to ratify it to our faith : he assures us there never
did or can so muclj as arise a repenting thought in his heart con-
cerning the purposes of his love and special grace towards his
children. Horn. xi. 29. The gifts and calling nf God are with-
out repentance^ even the believers sin against him, their froward
carriage stirs not up thoughts of casting off, but of reducing them :
'For the iniquity of his covetoiisness was I tvroth^ and smote him ;

I hid me and was nn oth^ and he went onfrowardly in the way of
his heart ; I have seen his ways^ and will heal him^ Isa. Ivii. 17,
18. The water of the saint's failings, cast on the fire of God's
love, cannot quench it ; Whom he loves^ he loves to the end,

2. God, to give further weight and credit to our unbelieving
and misgiving hearts, seals his promise with an oath. See Isa.
liv. 9, 10. With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee,
saith the Lord thy Redeemer ; this is as the waters of Noah
unto ms ; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should
not return over the earth, so have I swor7i that I will not be
wroth with thee. Yea, he goes on and tells there, The mountains
shall depart (meaning at the end of the world, when the whole
frame of the heavens and earth shall be dissolved), but his kind-
ness shall not depart, neitfier shall his covenant of peace be re-
moved^

3Dt> And having done all^ to stand.

moved. Now, lest any should think this was some charter be-
longing to the Jews alone, we find it, ver. \7. settled on every
servant of God as his portion : This is the heritage of the ser-
rants of the J^rd^ and their righteoimtess is ofnie, saiih the
.Lord. And surely God that is so careful to make his children's
inheritance sure to them, will give them little thanks, who busj
their wits to invalidate and weaken his conveyances, vea, dis-
prove his will : if they had taken a bribe, they could not 'plead
Satan's cause better.

3. In the actual fulfilling these promises, (which he hath made
to believers) to Christ their attorney. As God, before the world
began, gave a promise of eternal life to Christ for them, so now
hath he given actual possession of that glorious place to Christ
(as their advocate and attorney), where that eternal life shall be
enjoyed b}' them ; for as he came upon our errand from heaven,
so thither he returned again, to take and hold possession of that
inheritance, which God had of old promised, and he in one sum
at his death had paid for. And now what ground of fear can
there be in the believer's heart concerning God's love standing
firm to him, when he sees the whole covenant performed already
to Christ for him, whom God hath not only called to, sanctified
for, and upheld in the great work he was to finish for us, but also
justified in his resurrection and goal-delivery, and received him
into heaven, there to sit on the right hand of the Majesty on high,
by which he hath not only possession for us, but full power to
give unto all believers ?

Secondly^ A second occasion of fear to the believer that he
shall not persevere, may be tak^n from himself. He has many
sad fears and tremblings of heart, that he shall at last forsake
God : The journey is long to heaven, and his grace weak : Ob,
saith he, is it not possible that this little grace should fail, and I
fall short at last of glory ? Now here there is such provision
Blade in the covenant, as scatters this cloud also.

1. The spirit of God is given on purpose to prevent this

Chri't left his mother with John, but with his saints his spirit, to
tutor and keep them, that they should not lose themselves in their
journey to heaven. Oh how sweet is that place, Ezek. xxxvi.
27. I will put 1112^ spirit in 2f oil, and cause you to walk in viy
statutes^ and ye shall keep mif judgments and do them. He doth
not say, they shall have his spirit, if they will walk in his sta-
tutes ; no, his spirit shall cause them to do it. But may be thou
art afraid thou mayest grieve him, and so he in anger leave thee,
and thou perish for want of his help and counsel. Ans, The
spirit of God is indeed sensible of unkindness, and, upon a saint's
sin, may withdraw in regard of present assistance, but never in
regard of his care j as a mother may let her froward child go

alone^

And having done all^ to stand. 30?

tllohe, till it get a knock- that may make it cry to be taken up
again into her arms, but still her eyes are on it that it shall not fall
into mischief. The spirit withdrew from Sampson, and he fell
into the Philistines' hands ; and this makes him cry to God, and
the spirit puts forth his strength to him again. Thus here in-
deed the office of the spirit is to abide for ever with the saints,
John xiv. 16. He shall sendymi another comforter, that he may
abide for ever with yon,

2, It is one main business of Christ's intercession, to obtain of
God perseverance for our weak graces, I have prayed (saitli
Christ to Peter) that thy faith fail not. But was not that a par-
ticular privilege granted to him, which may be denied to another ?
Oh, sirs, do we think that Christ's love looks asquint ? doth he
pray for one child more tha,n another ? Such fears and jealousies
ibolish children are ready to take up ; and therefore Christ pre-
vents them, by bidding Peter in the very next words. When thou
art converted^ strengthen thy brethren, liuke xxi. 31. that is>
when thou feelest the efficacy and force of my prayer for thy
faith, carry this good news to them, that their hearts may be
strengthened also : And what strengthening had it been to them,
if Christ prayed not for them as well as for Peter ? Does Christ
pray for us ? yea, doth he not live to pray for us ? Oh how can
children of so many prayers, of such prayers, perish ? The saints
prayers have a mighty power. Jacob wrestled and had power
with God ; this was his sword and bow (to allude to what he said
of the parcel of ground he took from the Amorite), by which he
got the victory, and had power with God. This was the key
with which' Elijah opened and shut heaven. And if the weak
prayers of saints (coming in his name) have such credit in hea-
ven, that with them they can go to God's treasure, and carry
away as much as theigr arm of faith can hold ; O then, what pre-
valency has Christ's intercession, who is a Son, an obedient Son,
that is come from finishing his great work on earth, and now prays
his Father for nothing but what he hath bid him ask, yea, for
nothing but what he is before-hand with him for, and all this to a
Father that loyes those he prays for as well as himself ? Bid sataut
avaunt. Say not thy weak faith shall perish, tfll thou hearest that
Christ hath left praying, or meets with a repulse.

3. Let us see whether satan be able to pluck the Christian
away, and step betwixt him and home. I have had occasion to
speak of this subject in another place, the less here shall serve. —
Abundant provision is made against his assaults. The saint is
wrapt up in the everlasting arms of Almighty power ; and what
can a cursed devil do against God, which laid those chains on
him which he cannot shake off" ? When he is able to pluck that
dart of divine fury out of liis own conscience which God hath

u fastened

308 And havittg done all, to stand.

fastened there, then let him think of such an enterprize as this
How can he overcome thee, that cannot terapt thee but in God'a
appointed time ? And if God set satan his time to assault the
Christian whom he loves so dearly, surely it shall be when he shall
be repulsed with greatest shame.

Use 1. Away, then, with that doWine which saith, One may
be a saint to-day, and none to-morrow ; now a Peter, anon a
Judas : O how unsavoury stuff is this ! a principle it is that at
once crosseth the main design of God in the gospel-covenant, re-
flects sadly on the honour of Christ, and wounds the saint's com-
fort to the heart.

First, It is derogatory to God's design in the gospel-covenant,
which we find to be this. That his children might be put into a
state sure and safe from miscarrying at last, which by the first
covenant man was not. See Rom. vi. 16. Thtrefere it is of
faith, that it might be ofgrace^ to the end the promise might be
sure to all the seed, God on purpose, because of the weakness
of rhe first covenant, through the mutable nature of man, makes a
new covenant of a far different constitution and frame, not of
works, as that was, but of faith ; and why ? The apostle tells
us, that it might be sure to all the seed, that not one soul, who
by faith should be adopted into Abraham's family, and so become
a child of the promise, should fail of inheriting the blessing of the
promise, which is eternal hfe; called so. Tit. i. 2. ; and all this
because the promise is founded upon grace, that is, God's immut-
able good pleasure in Christ, and not upon the variable and in-
constant obedience of man, as the first covenant was. But if a
saint ma}^ finally fall, then is the promise no more sure in this co-
venant than it was in that, and so God should not have his end he
propounds.

Secondly, It reflects sadly on Christ's honour, both as he is in-
trusted with the saiuts salvation, and also as he is interested in it.
Firsts as he is intrusted with the saints salvation. He tells us
they are given him of his Father for this very end, that he should
give them eternal life ; yea, that power which he hath over all
flesh was given him, to render him every way able to effect this
one business, John xvii. 2. He accepts the charge, owns them
as his sheep, knows them every one, and promiseth, He mil give
them eternal life ; they shall never perish, neither shall any
pluck them out of his hand^ John x. 27, 28. Now how well do
they consult with Christ's honour, that say his sheep may die in a
ditch of final apostacy, notwithstanding all this ? Secondly^ As
he is interested in the salvation of every saint, the life of his own
glory is bound up in the eternal life of his saints. It's true, when
Adam fell, God did save his stake ; but how can Christ, who is
BO nearly united tQ eyery believing soul ? There was a league of

friendship

And having done all, to stand. 309

frienclsliip betwixt God and Adam ; but no such union as liere^
whete Christ and his saints make but one Christ, for which his
church is called Christy 1 Cor. xii. 12. As the body is one^ and
hath fkany members, and all the members of that one body being
many^ are one body^ so is Christ. Christ and his members make
one Christ : Now is it possible a piece of Christ can be found at
last biirning in hell ? Can Christ be a cripple Christ ? Can this
member drop off and that ? *Tis as possible that all, as any should ;
and how can Christ part with his mystical members, and not with
his glory ? Doth not every member add an ornament to the body,
yea, an honour ? The church is called the fulness of him, Eph. i.
23. O how dishonourable is it to Christ, that we should think he
should want any of his fulness ? And how can the man be full and
complete that wants a member ?

Thirdly, It wounds the saints comfort to the heart, and lays
their joy a bleeding. Paul saith, he did not dash the generous
wine of God's word with the water of man's conceits, 2 Cor. ii.
17. ; no, he gave them pure gospel. Truly this principle of saints
falling from grace gives a sad dash to the sweet wine of the pro-
mises ; the soul-reviving comfort that sparkles in them ariseth
frojn the sure conveyance with which they are in Christ made
over to the believers to have and to hold for ever. Hence called
the sure inercies of Davidj Acts xiii. 34. mercies that shall never
'fail. This, this indeed, is wine that makes glad the heart of a
saint ; though hfe niay be whipt*in the house when he sins, yet he
shall not be turned out of doorS. As God promised in the type to
David's seed, Psal. Ixxxix. 33. N^evertheless my loving kindness
mil I not utterly take from him^ nor suffer my faithfulness to
fail, and, ver. 36. His seed shall endure for ever. Could any
thing separate the believer from the love of God in Christ, this
would be as a hole at the bottom of his cup to leak out all his
joy ; he might then fear every temptation or affliction he meets
w^ould slay him, and so the wicked's curse would be the saint's
portion. His life vvould ever hang in doubt before him, and the
fearful expectation of his final miscarriage, which he sees may
befal him, would eat up the joy of his present hope. Now how
contrary such a frame of heart is to the spirit of adoption, and
full assurance of hope, which the grace of the new covenant gives,
he that runs may read in the word.

Use 2. This truth prepares a sovereign cordial to restore the -
fainting spirits of weak believers, who are surprised with many
fears concerning their persevering, an^ holding out to the end of
their warfare. Be of good cheer, poor soul, God hath givea
Christ the life of every soul within the ark of his covenant. —
Your eternal safety is provided for ; Whom he loves, he loves to
the end, John xiii. 1. Hath he made thee williog iu the day of

V 2 his

BIO ^ And having done all, to stand.

his power to march under his banner, and espouse his quarrel
against sin and hell ? the same power that overcame thy rebel-
lious heart to himself, will overcome all thy enemies within and
without for thee : Say not, Thou art a bruised reed ; with this he
will break Satan's head, and not cease till he hath brought forth
judgment unto complete victory in thy soul. He that can make
a few wounded men rise up and take a strong city, can make a
wounded spirit triumph over sin and devils, Jer. xxxvii. 10. The
ark stood in the midst of Jordan till the whole camp of Israel was
safely got over into Canaan, Josh. iii. And so doth the covenant
(which the ark did but typify), j^ea, Christ, covenant, and all,
stand to secure the saints a free passage to heaven. If but one
believer drown, the covenant must drown with him. Chri s and
tl^e saints are put together as co-heirs of the same inheritance,
Rom. viii. 17. If children^ then heirs, heirs of God^ and joint'
lieirs with Christ, We cannot dispute against one, but we ques-
tion the firmness of, the other's title. When you hear Christ
is turned out of heaven, or himself to be willing to sell his in-
heritance there, then, poor Christian, fear thy coming thither,
and not till then. Co-heirs cannot sell the inheritance, except
both give up their right, which Christ will never do, nor suffer
thee.

Use 3. Thirdly, This truth calls for a word or two of caution.
Though there is no fear of a saint's falling from grace, yet there
is great danger of others falling from the top of this comfortable
doctrine, into a careless security, and presumptuous boldness ;
and therefore a battlement is very necessary, that from it we may
with safety to our souls stand and view the pleasant prospect this
truth presents to our eye. That flower from which the bee sucks
honey, the spider draws poison. That which is a restorative to
the saint's grace, proves an incentive to the lust of a wicked man.
What Paul said of the law, we may truly of the gospel : Sin
taking occasion from the grace of the gospel, and the sweet pro-
mises thereof, deceives the carnal heart, and works in him all
manner of wickedness. Indeed sin seldom grows so rank any
where, as in those who water its roots with the grace of the gos-
pel. Two ways this doctrine may be abused.
First, Into a neglect of duty.

Secondly, Into a liberty to sin : Take heed of both.
First, Beware ot' falling into a neglect of duty upon this score :
If a Christian, thou canst not fall away from grace. Take for att
antidote against this, three particularf.

1. There are other arguments to invite, yea, that will constrain
thee to a constant vigorous performing of duty, though the fear
of falling away should not come in, or else thou art not a Chris-
tian ; what! nothing make the child diligent about his father's

business,

And having done all, to stand, 311

business, but fear of being disinherited and turned out of doors ?
There is sure some better motive to duty in a saint's heart, or
else religion is a melancholy work. Speak for yourselves, O ye
saints, is self-preservation all you pray for, and hear for ? should
a messenger come from heaven, and tell you heaven were yours,
would this make you give over your spiritual trade, and not care
whether you had any more acquaintance with God till you came
thither ? O how harsh doth this sound in your ears ! There are
such principles engraven in the Christian's bosom, that will not
suffer a strangeness long to grow betwixt God and him. He is
under the law of a new life, which carries him naturally to desire
communion with God, as the child doth to see the face of his dear
father ; and every duty is a moimt wherein God presents himself
to be seen and enjoyed by every Christian.

2. To neglect duty upon such persuasion, is contrary to Christ's
practice and counsel. First, His practice. Though Christ
never doubted of his Father's love, nor questioned the happy issue
of all his temptations, agonies, and sufferings ; yet he prays, and
prays again more earnestly, Luke xxii. 44. Secondly, His coun-
sel and command. He told Peter, that satan had begged leave
to have him to sift him. But withal he comforts him (who was
to be hardest put to it) with this, But I have prayed for thee^
that thy faith fail not. Sure our Saviour by this provision made
for him and the rest, means to save them a labour that they need
not watch or pray. No such matter, after this, as you may see
ver. 40. He calls them up to duty. Pray^ that ye enter not
into temptation, Christ's praying for them was to strengthen
their faith, when they should themselves pray for the same mercy ;
not to nourish their sloth, that they needed not to pray. Christ's
prayers in heaven for his saints are all heard already, but the re-
turn of them is reserved to be inclosed in the answer God sends to
their own prayers : The Christian cannot in faith expect to re-
ceive the mercies Christ prays for in heaven, so long as he lives
in the neglect of his duty on earth. They stand ready against
he call for them by the prayer of faith, and if they be not worth
sending this messenger to heaven, truly they are worth little.

3. Consider, that although the Christian be secured from a total
and final apostacy, yet he may fall sadly, to the bruising of his
conscienc-e, enfeebling his grace, and reproach of the gospel,
which sure are enough to keep the Christian upon his watch, and
the more, because ordinarily the saints backslidings begin in their
duties. As it is with tradesmen in the world, they first grow
careless of their business, often out of their shops, and then they
go'behind hand in their estates : so here, first remiss in a duty,
a id then fall into a decay of their graces and comforts, yea, some-
times into those ways that are scandalous. A stuff loseth its gloss

u 3 before

312 And having done all, to stand,

before it wears : the Christian, the lustre of his grace in the
lively exercise of duty, and then the strength of it.

Secondly, Take heed of abusing this doctrine into a liberty to
sin ; shall we sin because grace abounds ? grow loose because we
have God fast bound in his promise ? God forbid, none but a devil
would teach us this logic. It was a great height of sin those
wretched Jews came to, who could quaff and carouse it, while
death looked in upon them at the windows. Let us eat and
drink^ for to-morrow we shall die. They discovered their atheism
therein. But what a prodigious stature in sin must that man be
grown to, that can sin under the protection of the promise, and
draw his encouragement to sin, from the everlasting love of God ?
Jjet us eat and drink, for we are sure to be saved. Grace cannot
dwell in that heart which draws such a cursed conclusion from
the promises of God's grace; the saints have not so learned
Christ. The inference the apostle makes from the sweet privi-
leges we enjoy in the covenant of grace, is, not to waljow in sin :
but having these promises, to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of flesh and spirit, 2 Cor. vii. 1. 'Tis the nature of faith (the
grace that trades with promises), to purify the heart. Now
the more certain report faith brings of Qod's love from the
promise of the soul, the more it purifies the heart, because
love, by which faith works, is thereby more enflamed to God ;
and if once this affection takes fire, the room becomes too hot for
sin to stay there.

SECT*. II The fourth last and note is. That it will abun-
dantly recompense all the hardship and trouble the Christian en-
dures in this war against sin and satan, that he will be able when
the war is ended to stand. In man's wars all do not get by them
that fight in them ; the gains of these is commonly put into a few
pockets. The common soldiers endure most of the hardship, but
go away with little of the profit ; they fight to make a few that
are great, 3;^et greater, and many times themselves turned off at
last, with what will hardly pay for the cure of their wounds, or
keep them from starving in a poor hospital. But in this war there
is none loseth, but he that runs away. A glorious reward there
is for every faithful soldier in Christ's camp, and that is wrapt
up in this phrase. Having done all^ to sta/nd. Now this place,
to standi imports three things, which, laid together, will clear
the point.

First, To standi in this place, is to stand conquerors. An army,
when conquered, is said to fall before their enemy, and the con-
queror, to stand. Lev. xxvi. Dan. xi. 25. Every Christian shall
at the end of the war stand a conqueror over his vanquished lusts,
and satan that headed them. Many a sweet victory the Chris-
tian hath here over satan ; But (alas I) the joy of these conquests

is

And having done all^ to stund, 313

IS again interrupted with fresh alarms from his rallied enemy.—.
Ooe day he hath the better, and may be the next he puts us to
ihe hazard of another battle, much ado he hath to keep what he
hath got : yea, his victories are such as send him bleeding out of
the field : Though he repulses the temptation at last, yet the
wounds his conscience gets in the fight, do overcast the glory of
the victory. 'Tis seldom the Christian comes oiF without some
sad complaint of the treachery of his own heart, which had like
to have lost the day, and betrayed him into his enemies hand.— «
But for thy eternal comfort, know, (poor Christian) there is a
blessed day coming, which shall make a full and final decision of
the quarrel betwixt thee and satan ; thou shalt see this enemy's
camp quite broke up ; not a weapon left in his hand to lift up
against thee. Thou shalt tread upon his high places, from which
he hath made so many shots at thee. Thou shalt see them all
dismantled and demolished, till there be not left standing any one
corruption in thy bosom, for a devil to hide and harbour himself
in. Satan, at whose approach thou hast so trembled, shall then be
subdued under thy feet : He that hath so oft bid thee bow down,
that he might go over thy soul, and trample upon all thy glory,
shall now have his neck laid to be trodden on by thee. Were
there nothing else to be expected as the fruits of our watching
and praying, weeping and mourning, severe duties of mortificatioa
and self-denial, with whatever else our Christian warfare puts us
upon, but this, our labour sure would not be in vain in the Lord.
Yea, blessed watching and praying, happy tears and wounds we
meet with in this war ; may they but at last epd in a full and eter-
nal victory over sin and satan. Bondage is one of the worst of
evils. The baser an enemy is, the more abhorred by noble spi-
rits. Saul feared to fall into the hands of the uncircumcised
Philistines, and to be abused by their scorns and reproaches more
than a bloody death : Who baser than satan ? What viler tyrant
than sin ? Glorious then will the day be, wherein we shall praise
God for delivering us out of the hands of all our sins, and from
the hand of satan. But dismal to you (sinners) who at the same
time, wherein you shall see the saints stand with crowns of victory
on their heads, must, like fettered captives, be dragged to hell's
dungeon, there to have your ear bored unto an eternal bandage
under your lusts. And what more miserable sentence can God
himself pass upon you ? Here sin is pleasure, there it will be
your torment. Here a sweet bit, and goes down glib, but there
it will stick in your throats. Here you have suitable provision
to entertain yonr lusts withal ; palaces for pride to dwell and strut
herself in ; delicious fare for your wanton palates ; houses aqd
lands, with coffers of silver and gold for your covetous hearts, by
their self-pleasing thoughts to sit brooding upon : But you will

u 4 find

314? And having done all, to stand.

find none of these there ; hell is a barren place, nothing grows in
that land of darkness to solace and recreate the sinners minds.—.
Ton shall have your lusts, but want the food you long for. O
what a torment must that needs be, to have a soul sharp set, evea
to a ravenous hunger after sin, but chained up where it can come
at nothing it would have to satisfy its lusts : For a proud wretch,
that could wish he might domineer over all the world, yea, over
God himself if he would let him, to be kept down in such a dun-
geon as hell is, O how it will cut ! for the malicious sinner, whose
heart swells with rancour against God and his saints, that he
could pluck them out of God's bosom, yea, God out of his throne,
if he had power, to find his hands so manacled, that he can do
nothing against them he so hates : O how this will torment ! Speak,
O you saints, whose partial victory over sin at present is so sweet
to you, that you would choose a thousand deaths, sooner than re-
turn to your old bondage under your lusts ; How glorious then
is that day in your eye, when this shall be compleated in a full
and eternal conquest, never to have any thing to do more with sia
or satan !

Secondly, To standi is here to stand justified and acquitted at
the great day of jud^jment. The phrase is frequent in scripture,
which sets out the solemn discharge they shall have then by stand-
ing in judgment, Psal. i. 5. The wicked shall not stand in judg-
ment ; that is, they shall not be justified. Psal. cxxx. 3. Ifthou^
JLord^ shouldst mark iniquity ^ 0 Lord^ who shall stand? That
is, who shall be acquitted ? The great God, upon whose errand
we come into the world, hath appointed a day wherein he will
judge the world by Jesus Christ I a solemn day it will be, when
all that ever lived on earth, high and low, good and bad, shall
meet in one assembly to make their personal appearance before
Christ, and from his mouth to receive their eternal doom, who
shall in his majestic robes of glory ascend the awful seat of judica-
ture, attended with his illustrious train and guard of angels about
him, and so many officers ready to execute and perform his plea-
sure, according to the definitive sentence that he shall pronounce,
either to conduct those blessed ones whom he shall justify into his
glorious kingdom, or bind them hand and foot to be cast into
hell's unquenchable flames whom he shall condemn. I do not won-
der that Paul's sermon on this subject did make an earthquake
in Felix his conscience : But rather that any should be so far gone
in a lethargy and dedolent numbness of conscience, as the thought
of this day cannot recover them to their sense and feeling. O
sirs, do you not vote them happy men and women that shall speed
well on this day ? Are not your thoughts enquiring who those
blessed souls are, which shall be acquitted by the lively voice of
Christ the judge ? You need not ascend to search the rolls of elec-
tion

And having done all, to stand. 315

tion in heaven ; here you raay know they are such as fight the
Lord's battles on earth against satan, in the Lord's armour, and
that to the end of their lives. These having done all, shall stand
in judgment. And were it but at a man's bar, some court-martial,
where a soldier stood upon trial for his life, either to be condemn-
ed as a traitor to his prince, or cleared as faithful in his trust, O
how such a one would listen to hear how it would go with him,
and be overjoyed when the judge pronounces him innocent ? well
may such be bid to fall down on their knees, thank God and the
judge that have saved their lives ! How much more ravishing
■will the sweet voice of Christ be in the saints ears, when he shall
in the face of men and angels make public declaration of their
righteousness ! O how confounded will satan then be, who was
their accuser to God and their consciences also, ever threatening
them with the terror of that day ! how blank will the wicked
world be, to see the dirt that they had thrown by their calumni^
and tying reports on the saints faces, wiped off with Christ's owa
hand ; they from Christ's mouth to be justified as sincere, whom
they had called hypocrites ! Will not this, O ye saints, be enough
for all the scorn you were laden with from the world, and conflict
you endured with the prince of the world ? But this is not all.—
Therefore,

Thirdly, To stand doth here also (as the complement of their
reward) denote the saints standing in heaven's glory. Princes,
when they would reward any of their subjects, that in their wars
have done eminent service to the crown Cas the utmost they cau
do for them), do prefer thfem to court, their to enjoy their prince-
ly favour, and stand in some place of honourable service before
them continually. Solomon sets it out as the greatest reward of
subjects, to stand before kings. Heaven is the royal- city, where
the great God keeps his court. The happiness of glorious augeU
is to stand there before God. lam Gabriel^ that stand in the
presence of God^ Luke i, 9. that is, I am one of those heavenly
spirits, who wait on the great God, and stand before his face, as
courtiers do about their prince. Now such honour shall every
faithful soul have. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, If thou wilt
walk in my ivays^ and if thou wilt keep my charge, I will give
thee places to walk among these that stand by, Zech. iii. 7. He
alludes to the temple, which had rooms joining to it, for the
priests that waited on the Lord in his holy service there : Or to
courtiers, that have stately galleries and lodgings becoming their
place at court, allowed them in the King's palace they wait upon.
Thus all the saints (whose representative Joshua was) shall, after
they have kept the Lord's charge in a short life's service on earth,
be called up to stand before God in heaven, where with angels
they shall have their galleries and mansions of glory also. O,

happy

316 And having done all, to stand.

happy they, who shall stand before their Lord in glory ! The
greatest peers of a realm, such as earls, marquisses and dukes,
count it greater honour to stand before their king, though bare-
headed, and oft upon the knee, than to live in the country, where
all bow and stand bare to them ; yea, let but their prince forbid them
coming to court, and 'tis not their great estates, or respect they
have where they live, will content them. 'Tis better to wait oa
heaven, than to reign on earth. 'Tis sweet standing before the
Lord here in an ordinance ; one day in the worship of God is bet-
ter than many elsewhere ; O, what then is it to stand before God
in glory ! if the saint's spikenard sendeth forth so sweet a smell,
while the king sits at his table here in a sermon or sacrament.
Cant. i. 12. O then, what joy must needs flow from their near
attendance on him, as he sits at his table in heaven, which when
God first made, it was intended by him to be that chamber of pre-
sence, in which he would present himself to be seen of, and en-
joyed by his saints in all his glory I I know nothing would have
a more powerful, yea, universal operation upon a saint's spirit,
that the frequent and spiritual consideration of that blissful state
in heaven, which at last will crown all their sad conflicts here on
earth. None like this sword to cut the very sinews of temptation,
and behead those lusts, which defy and out-brave whole troops of
other arguments. It is almost impossible to sin with lively
thoughts and hopes of that glory. 'Tis wjhen the thoughts of hea-
ven are long out of the Christian's sight, and he knows not what
is become of his hopes of that glorious place, that he begins to set
up some idol (as Israel the calf in Moses's absence) which he may
dance before. But let heaven come in sight, and the Christian's
heart will be warmed with the thoughts of it, and you may as soon
persuade a king to throw his royal diadem into a sink, and wallow
with his robes in a kennel, as a saint to sin with expectation of
heaven's glory. Sin is a devil's work, not a saint's, who is a
peer in heaven, and waits every hour for the writ that shall call
him to stand with angels and glorified saints before the throne of
God. This would cheer the Christian's heart, and confirm him
when the fight is hottest, and the bullets fly thickest from men and
devils, to think, 'tis heaven all this is for, where it's worth hav-
ing a place, though we go through fire and water to it. 'Tw be-^
fore the Lord (saith David to scoffing Michal) that chose me be-
fore thy father and all his house ; therefore I will play before
the JLord^ and I will yet be more vile than thus^ 2 Sam. vi. 21.
Thus, Christian, wouldst thou throw off the vipers of reproaches,
which from the fire of the wicked's malice fly upon thee ? 'Tis for
. God that I pra)^, hear, mortify my lusts, deny myself of my car-
nal sports, profits, and pleasures ; that God who hath passed by
kings and priuces, to choose me, a poor wretch, to stand before

him

And having done all, to stand, &;c, 317

iiiru in glory : therefore I will be yet more vile than thus. O sirs,
were there not another world to enjoy God in, yet should we not,
while we have our being, serve our Maker ? The heavens and the
earth obey his law, they are capable of no reward for doing his
will. Quench hell, burn heaven, (said a holy man), i/et I mil
love and fear my God, How much more, when the everlasting
arms of mercy stand ready stretched to carry you, as soon as the
fight is over, into the blissful presence of God ! You have ser-
vants of your own so ingenuous and observant, that can follow
your work hard, abroad in all weathers ; and may they but, when
they come home weary and hungry at night, obtain a kind look
from you, and some tender care over them, they are very thank-
ful. Yea, (saith one, to shame the sluggish Christian), how
many hundred miles will the poor spaniel run after his master in
a journey, who gets nothing but a few crumbs, or a hone from
his master^s trencher ? In a word, which is more, the deviFs
slaves, what will they not do and venture at his command, who
hath not so much to give them as you to your dog, not a crust,
not a drop of water to cool their tongue ? And shall not the joy
of heaven, which is set before the Christian, into which he shall
assuredly enter, make him run his race, and endure a short scuf-
fle of temptation and affliction ? Yea sure, and make him reckon
also, that these are not worthy to be compared with the glory
IV hie h shall be revealed in him,

EPHESIANS VI. 14.

[^Stand therefore, Sic."]

HP HE apostle hath laid down in general, ver. 13. what armour
-* the Christian soldier must use : armour of God, Now lest
any should stamp divinity upon what is human, and make bold to
set God's name on their counterfeit ware, calling that armour of
God which comes out of their private forge (as papists, and many
carnal protestants also do, who invent weapons to fight the devil
with, that never came into God's heart to appoint). He there-
tore comes more particularly to shew what this whole armour of
God is, describing it piece by piece, which together make up the
complete suit, and every way furnish the Christian to take the
field against this his enemy. We shall handle them in that order
we find them here laid by the apostle. Only something would
briefly be first said to the posture given us in charge, as that
which we are to observe in the use of every piece, and therefore
prefixed to all, because it hath idfluence upon all. The posture lies
in these words, stand therefore, steate, stand. This word is the
same with the last in the precedent verse ; but neither in the same
mood, nor tense : There put for victory and triumph when the

war

318 Stand therefore,

war IS done, here for the Christian's posture in the fight, and m
order to it. It is a military expression, a word of command that
captains use upon different occasions to their soldiers, and so im-
ports several duties that are required at the Christian's hands.

CHAP. I.

Wherein is hriejiy shewn the Necessity of resisting Satan's
Temptations^ with the Danger of yielding to them*

Tj^IRST, To stand, is opposed to a cowardly flight from, or
"*- treacherous yielding to the enemy. When a captain sees
his men begin to shrink, and perceives some disposition in them
to flee or yield, then he bids stand, that is, stand manfully to it,
and make good your ground against the enemy, by a valiant
receiving his charge, and repelling his force. The word taken
thus, points at a suitable duty incumbent on the Christian, which
take in this note.

Note. Satan in his temptations is stoutly to be resisted, not in
any wise yielded unto.

Heas, 1. The command is express for it, 1 Pet. v. 9. Whom
resist stedfast in the faith. Set yourselves in battle against him,
as the word imports, fight him whenever he comes. Soldier*
must keep close to their commission, whatever comes on it.—
When Joab sent Uriah to stand in the fore-front of the battle, in
the face of death itself, he could not but see his danger, yet he
disputes not the matter with his general : obey he must, though
he loses his life upon the place. Cowardice and disobedience to
the leader's command are counted, among the Turks, the most
damning sins ; and shall they be thought peccadilloes, little ones,
by us that have Christ for our captain to serve, and sin and the
devil for enemies to fight ? To resist some temptations may cost
us dear. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood (saith the apostle)
striving against sin, Heb. xii. 4. implying it may come to that,
and if it should, it alters not the case, nor gives a dispensation to
fihift for ourselves, by choosing to sin, rather than to suffer. The
Roman captain said it was necessary to fall, not to live ; and
shall a Christian be afraid of his duty, when it is attended with
any hazard ? The soldier carries his prince's honour into the field
with him, and so doth the Christian his God's, whenever he is
called to contest with any temptation : Now it will be seen at
what rate he values his honour. David's subjects valued him
worth ten thousand of their lives, and therefore would die every
man of them, rather than hazard him. Oh how unworthy, then,

is

Stand therefore * 319

IS it to expose the name of God to reproach, rather than ourselves
to a little scorn, temporal loss, or trouble ? It was Porapey's
boast, that at a word or nod of his, he could make his soldiers
creep up the steepest rock on their hands and knees, though they
were knocked down as fast as they went up. Truly, God is not
prodigal of the blood of his servants, yet sometimes he tries their
loyalty in hard services, and sharp temptations, that he may from
their faithfulness to him, and holy stoutness in their sufferings for
him, triumph over satan, who was so impudent as to tell God,
that one of his choicest servants did but serve himself in serving
of him, Doth Job fear God for nought ? As if when any sharp
encounter came, he would turn head, and rather curse God, thaa
submit to him ; and therefore we find the Lord glorying over
satan, Job ii. 3. Still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou
movedst me against him ; as if the Lord had said, what dost thou
think now, satan ? Hath not Job proved thee a loud liar ? I
have some servants, thou seest, that will serve me without a
bribe, that will hold fast their integrity, when they can hold fast
nothing else. Thou hast got away his estate, servants, and chil-
dren, and yet he stands his ground, and thou hast not got thy will
of him, nor his integrity from him.

%, God furnisheth us with armour for this end, that we should
stand it out valiantly, and not yield to satan tempting. To de-
liver up a castle into an enemy's hand, when *tis well provided
with ammunition to defend it, is shameful and unworthy of such
a trust. This makes the Christian's sin more dishonourable thau
another's, because he is better appointed to make resistance.—
Take a graceless soul, when solicited (suppose) to a sin that pro-
miseth carnal pleasure or profit, 'tis no great wonder that he
yields at first summons, and delivers up himself prisoner to satan:
The poor wretch, alas ! hath no armour on to repel the motion.
He tastes no sweetness in Christ : what marvel is it, if his hungry
soul, for want of better food, falls on board upon the devil's cheer ?
That he, who hath no hope of another world, be made to shark
and prowl to get some of this ? The goat (we say) must browze
where she is tied, and the sinner feed on earth and earthly things,
to which he is staked down by his carnal heart. But the Chris-
tian hath a ho{^ in his bosom of possessing greater glory thau
this peddling world can pretend to ; yea, a faith that is able to
entertain him at present with some of heaven's joys, it being the
nature of that grace to give existence to the good things of the
promise ; this helmet on, and shield lift up, would keep ofF a
whole shower of such arrows from hurting a Christian. Got!
hath reason to take it the worse at his hands to yield that might
have stood, would he but have made use of those graces which
God had givea hiiu foi: his defence, or called in help from heavea

to

320 Stand therefore*

to his succour. Had thou eaten (saith God to Adam) of the
tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat ? Gen.
iii. L I . The accent lies in thou. It was not sure for hunger^
thou hadst a whole paradise before thee ; hast thou eaten, that
wert provided so well to have withstood him ? Hast thou (may
God say to the Christian) eaten of the devil's dainties, who hast
a key to go to ray cupboard ? Does thy heavenly Father keep
f5o starved a house, that the devil's scraps will go down with thee ?

Thirdly, The Christian's safety lies in resisting. All the ar-*
mour here provided is to defend the Christian fighting, none to
secure him flying; stand, and the day is ours ; fly or yield, and
all is lost. Great captains, to make their soldiers more resolute,
do sometimes cut off all hope of a safe retreat to them, then run
away : Thus the Norman conqueror, as soon as his men were set
on English shore, sent away his ships in their sight, that they
might resolve to tight or die. God takes away all thought of
safety to the coward. Not a piece to be found for the back id
all God's armoury. Stand, and bullets light all on your armour ;
fly, and they enter into your hearts. It is a terrible place, Heb«
X. 3S* The just shall live bij faith ; hut if any man draw hack^
mif soul shall have no pleasure in him. He that stands to it be-
lievingly, comes off' with his life ; but he that recoils, and runs
from his colours, as the word uposteiletai imports, God will ha%'e
no pleasure in him, except it be in the just execution of his wrath
on him. And doth he not make a sad change, that, from fighting
against satan, engageth God as an enemy against him ? There is
comfort in striving against sin and satan, though to blood ; but
none to lie sweating under the fiery indignation of a revenging
God. What satan lays on, God can take ofl^; but who catn ease,
if God lays on ? What man would not rather die in the field,
fighting for his prince, than on a scaffold by the axe, for cowar-
dice or treachery ?

Fourthly, The enemy we have to do withal is ench as is only
to be dealt with by resisting. God is ari enemy that is overcome
by yielding, the devil only by force of arms.

1. He is a cowardly enemy ; though he sets a bold face on it
in tempting, he carries a fearful heart in his breast. The work
is naught he goes about ; and, as a thief, is afraid of every light
he sees, or noie.e he hears in the house he would rob, so satan is
discouraged where he finds the soul waking, and in a posture to
oppose him. He fears thee (Christian) more than thou needest
do him. Jesus I know^ and Paul I know (saith the devil), Acts
xix. 15. That is, I know them to my shame ; they have both
put me to flight ; and if ye were such as they, I should fear you
also. Believe it, soul, he trembles at thy faith ; put it forth in
prayer to call for help to heaven against him, and exert it vi-
gorously

Statid therefore* 321

porously by rejecting the motions he makes, and thou shalt see
him run. Did soldiers in a castle know that their enemies be-
sieging them were in a distracted condition, and would certainly,
upon their sallying out, break up and fly away, what metal and
courage would this fill them withal ? The spirit of God (who
knows well enough how squares go in the devil's camp) sends this
intelligence unto every soul that is besieged by his ten)ptationSy
Jam. iv. 8. Resist the devil^ and he tdilljiee from you, IJe can-
not hurt us without our leave. The devil is not so good a drawer,
but when he finds it comes not, the soul yields not, his heart then
fails him, at least for the present, as in Christ's combat, 'tis said^
he departed from him for a season. When the devil continues
long the same suit, 'tis to be feared that person, though he hath
not fully promised him, yet he hath not given him a peremptory
denial. He is a suitor that listens for something to drop from
the creature that may encourage him to prosecute his motion ;
no way to be rid of him, but to shut the door upon him, and
deny all discourse with him ; which prompts to the second cha-
racter.

2. He is an incroaching enemy, and therefore to be resisted.
Let not the smi go down npon i/our wrath (saith the apostle),
neither give place to the devil ^ Eph. iv. 26.; as soldiers, by
cowardly leaving some out-wojk they are set to defend, give
place to their enemy who enters the same, and from thence
doth more easily shoot into tlie city than he could before. Thus
yielding in one temptation, we let the devil into our trench, and
give him a fair advantage to do us the more mischief. The angry
man, while he is raging and raving, thinks, may be, no more but
to ease his passion by disgorging it in some bitter keen words ;
but, alas, while his fury and wrath is sallying out at the portal of
his lips, the devil, finding the door open, enters and hurries him
further than he dreamed of. We have not to do with an Hanni-
bal (who, though a great swordsman, yet wanted the art of fol-
lowing and improving the advantages his victories gave him), but
with a cunning devil, that will easily lose no ground begets; our
best way therefore is to give him no hand-hold, not so much as to
come near the door where sin dwells, lest we be hooked in ; if
we mean not to be burnt, let us not walk upon the coals of temp-
tation ; if not to be taimcd, let us not stand where the sun shines.
They sure forget what an insinuating wriggling nature this ser-
pent hath, that dare yield to him in something, and make us be-
lieve they'will not in another ; who will, in the company of drun-
kards, frequent the places where the sin is committed, and yet
pretend they mean not to be such ? That will prostitute their
eyes to unchaste objects, and yet be chaste ? That will lend their
ears to any corrupt doctrine of the times, and vet be found in the

faith?

3S2 Sia/nd thet'eforci

faith? This is a strong delusion that such were under. Ifjt
man hath not power enough to resist satan in the less, what reason
Lath he to think he shall in the greater? Thou hast not grace
(it seems) to keep thee from throwing thyself into the whirl of
temptation ; and dost thou think, when in it, thou shalt bear up
against the stream of it ? One would think it is easier, when in
the ship, to keep from falling overboard, than when in the sea, to
get safely into the ship again.

3. He is an accusing enemy ; and truly folly is in that man's
name, who knows what a tell-tale the devil is, and yet will, by
yielding to his temptation, put an errand into his mouth, with
which he may accuse him to God. Some foolishly report, that
witches cannot Jiurt, till they receive an alms : but I am sure, so
long as thou shewest no kindness to thjC devil, he cannot hurt
thee, because he cannot accuse thee ; take up therefore holy
Job's resolution, Job xxvii. Mi^ righteousness I mil hold fast,
my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. It is never sad
indeed with the soul, till the barking is within doors ; conscience
(not the devil) is the blood-hound that pulls down the creature.
Oh let not that reproach thee, and thou art well enough.

«'V«%«/««/V%^«^«^«/%«^«/%/»/«.«^'»««/»«^v%

CHAP. II.

Wherein is shewed^ What it is for a Christian to Stand in Order^
together iviih his Duti/ in this Particular^ and the Danger of
Stragglers from their own Place*

SECONDLY, To standi amounts to as much as to stand every
*^ one in his rank and proper station, and is here opposed to all
disorder or straggling from our place. When a captain sees his
soldiers march or fight out of their rank and order, then he bids
stand. Military discipline is so strict in this case, that it allows
none to stir from their place, without special warrant. It hath
cost some their lives for fighting out of their place, though with
great success, Manlius killed his own son for no other fault.
From hence the note is,

Nate, That it should be the care of every Christian to stand
orderly in the particular place wherein God hath set him. The
devil's method is first to rout, and then to ruin. Order suppo^eth
company, one that walks alone cannot go out of his rank. This
place, therefore, and rank wherein the Christian is to stand, re-
lates to some society or company in which he walks. The Chris-
tian may be considered in relation to k three-fold society, church,
commonwealth, and family. In all there are several ranks and

places.

Stand therefore. 323

places. In the church, officers and private members. In tho
commonwealth, magistrates and people. In the family, masters
and servants ; parents and children ; husband and wife. The
welfare of these societies consisteth in the order that is kept^
when every wheel moves in its place without clashing, when every
one contributes by performing the duty of his place to the benefit
of the whole society ; but more distinctly, then a person stands
orderly in his place, wheu he hath these three things.

1. When he understands the peculiar duty of his place and re-
lation. The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way^
Prov. xiv. 8. His way, that is the way which he in particular
is to walk. It will not profit a man to know the way to York,
if going to London ; yet how prone are we to stucjy another's
way and work than our own ? The servant what his master's
duty is, nor what his is to his master. The people what the mi-
nister in his place should do, rather than what is incumbent oa
themselves to such as are over them in the Lord. It is not know-
ing another's duty, no, nor censuring the negligence of another,
but doing our own, will bring us safely and comfortably to our
journey's end ; and how can we do it, except we know it ? Solo-
mon in no one thing gave a greater proof of his wisdom, than in
asking of God wisdom to enable him for the duty of his place.

Secondly, When knowing the duty of our place, we conscien-^
tiously attend to it, and lay out ourselves for God therein. What
Paul charged Timothy in his place, that every Christian must do
in his ; he must meditate on these things, and give himself wholly
to the discharge of his duty : as a Christian in such a place and
calling, en toutois isthi^ 1 Tim. iv. 15. be in them^ let thy heart
be on thy work, and thou wholly taken up about it. The very
power of godliness lies in this. Religion, if not made practicable
in our several places and callings, becomes ridiculous, and vanish-
eth into an empty notion that is next to nothing. Yet many there
are that have nothing to prove themselves Christians, but a naked
profession, of whom we may say as they do of the cinnamon tree,
that the bark is more worth than all they have besides. Such
the apostle speaks of. Tit. i. 16. They profess that they know
Gody but in works they deny him, being abominable and dimbe^
dient^ and to every good work reprobate. What good works the
apostle means, will appear in the next words, chap. ii. 1. where,
in opposition to these, he presseth those duties which Christians
in their particular places and relations (as becometh holiness)
ought to perform. A good Christian and a disobedient wife, a
godly man and an unfaithful servant, or uudutiful child, are con-
tradictions that can never be reconciled. He that walks not up-
rightly in his house, is but an hypocrite at church. He that is
not a Christian in his shop, is not in his closet a Christian, though

X upon

324 Stand therefore.

upon his knees in prayer. WoiukI religion in one part, and 'tis
felt in every part. If it declines one way, it cannot thrive in
any other. All that miscarry in religion, do not the same way
miscarn'. As it is in the regard of our natural life, some ('tis
observed) die upwards, some downwards : in one, the extreme
parts ; his feet are first dead, Hnd so creeps up to the legs, and so
at last takes hold on the vitals ; in another, his superior parts are
first invaded. Thus in profession, some, their declining appears
first in a negligence of duties about their particular callings and
duties they owe by their place and relation to man, who all this
while seem very forward and zealous in the duties of worship to
God, much in hearing, praying, and such like: others faulter
first in these, and at the same time seem very strict in the other ;
both destructive alike to the soul, they both meet in the ruin of
the power of godliness. He stands orderly that makes con-
science of the whole duty that lies on him in his place to God or
man.

Thirdly, To stand orderly, it is requisite that we keep the
bounds of our place and calling. The Israelites were commanded k
to pitch every man hy his oum standard,. Numb. ii. 2. The Sep- '
tuagint translates it, kafa tagma^ according to order. God al-
lows no stragglers from their station in his army of saints. Asi
the Lord calleth every ntan^ so let htm ivalk, I Cor. vii. 17 —
Our walk must be in that path which our call beats out. We
are therefore commanded every one to do his own business, 1
Thess. iv. 11. That which is the commander's business in an
army, is no<^^ the private soldier's ; the magistrate's, not the sub-
ject's ; the minister's, not the people's. That which is justice in
the ruler, is murder in another. 'J'hey are our own things, that
come within the compass of our general or particular calling ; out
of these, we are out of our diocese. O what a quiet world should
we have, if every thing and person knew, his own place ! if the
sea kept its own place, w^e should have no inundations ; if men
had fheirs, we should neither have seen such floods of sin, nor
miseries, as this unhappy age has been almost drowned with. —
But it must be a strong bank indeed, that can contain our fluid
spirits within our own terms. Peter himself was sharply chid,
for prying out of curiosity into that which concerned him not.
What is that to thee 9 John xxi. 22.; as if Clmst had said,^
Peter, meddle with thy own matters, this concerns not thee
which shaip rebuke (saith one) might possibly make Peter alter
wards give so strict a charge against, and set so black a bran<
upon this very sin, as you may find, I Pet. iv. 15. where he ranks
the btisy-body among murderers and thieves.

Now to fix every one in his place, and persuade all to stan<
orderly there without breaking their rank, these five considerai

tioi '

Stand therefore. 325

tiftns (methinks) may carry some weight, among those especially
with whom the word of God in the scripture yet keeps its autho-
rity, to conclude and deterraihe their thoughts.

J . Consider, What thou doest out* of thy place is not accep-
table to God, because thou canst not do it iu faith, without uhich
it is impossible to please God i and it cannot be in faith, because
thou hast no call. God will not thank thee for doing that which
he did not set thee about ; possibly thou hast good intentions ; so
had Uzzah in staying the ark ; yet how well God liked his zeal,
see 2 Sam. vi. 7, Saul himself could make a fair story of his
sacrificing, but that served not his turn. It concerns us, not only
to ask ourselves, what the thing is we do ; but also, who requir-
eth this at our hands ? To be sure, God will at last put us upoa
that question, and it will go ill with us, if we cannot shew our
commission. So long we must needs neglect what is our duty, as
we are busy about that which is not. I'he spouse confesseth this,
Cant. i. 6. Thei^ made me the keeper of the vineijards^ but mine
own vineyard have I not kept. She could not mind theirs and
her own too ; our own iron will cool while we are beating ano-
ther's. And this must needs be displeasing to God, to leave the
work God sets us about, to do that he never commanded. When
a master calls a truantly scholar to account, that hath been mis-
sing some days from school, would this be a good plea for him to
tell his master, that he was all this while in such a man's shop at
work with his tools ? No sure, his business lay at school, not in
that shop.

2. By going out of onr proper place and calling, we put our-
selves from under God's protection : The promise is. He will
keep us in all our ways, Psal. xci. 11. When we go out of our
way, we go from under his wing. We have an excellent place for
this, 1 Cor. vii. 24. Lei every one wherein he is called^ therein
abide with God. Mark the phrase, abide with God. As we
love to walk in God's company, we must abide in our place and
calling ; every step from that is a departure from God ; and bet-
ter to stay at home in a mean place, and low calling, wherein we
may enjoy God's sweet presence, than go to court, and there live
without him. 'Tis like you have heard of that holy Bishop, that
in a journey fell into an inn ; and by some discourse with the
host, finding him to be an atheist, or very atheistical, presently
calls for his servant to bring him his horse, saying, He would not
lodge there, for God was not in that place. Truly when thou art
in any place, or about any work, to which thou art not called, we
>inay safely say, God is not in that place, or enterprize ; and what
a bold adventure is it to stay there, where you cannot expect his
presence to assist, or protect ? As a bird that wandereth from
her nest^ so is a man that wandereth from M$ place, Prov. xxvii.

X 2 8.

32 6 Siand therefore.

8. God took special care, that the bird sitting over her eggs tfh
her nest should not be hurt, Deut. xxii. 6. but we find nothhig
to secure her, if found abroad. In doing the duty of our place^
we have heaven's word for our security ; but upon our own peril
be it if we wander; then we are like Shimei out of his precincts^
and lay ourselves open to some judgment or other : It is alike
dangerous to do what we are not called to, and to neglect or leave
undone the duty of our place. As the earth could not bear Co-
rah's usurpation of what belonged not to them, but swallowed them
up : So the sea could not but bear witness against Jonah the
runaway prophet, disdaining to waft him, that fled from his place
and work that God called him to. Nay, heaven itself would not
harbour the angels, when once they left their own place and of-
:fice that their Maker had appointed ; so those words, Jude vi.
apolipontai to idion oinethrion, I find most probably interpreted.
The ruin of many souls breaks in upon them at this door. First,
they break their ranks, and then they are led further into temp-
tation. Absalom first looks over the hedge in his ambitious
thoughts, a king he would be ; and this wandering desire beyond
his place, lets in those bloody sins, rebellion, incest, and murder,
and these ripened him for, and at last delivered him into the hand
divine vengeance. The apostle joins order and stedfastness to-
gether. Col. ii. 5. I am with you in the spirit, joying and he-
holding your order ^ and stedfastness of your faith. If an array
stands in close order, every one in his place attending his duty,
content with his work, 'tis impregnable in a manner. How came
many in our days to fall from their stedfastness, but by breaking
their order !

3. We shall never be charged for uot doing another's work.—
Give an account of thy stewardship^ Luke xvi. t. that is, of what
by thy place thou wert intrusted with. We may indeed be ac-
cessary to another's sin and miscarriage in his place. Be fwt
partakers with them^ saith the apostle, Ephes. v. 7. There is a
partnership (if not very watchful) that we may have with other
sins, and therefore we may say Amen to that holy man's prayer,
JLord^ forgive me my other sins. Merchants can trade in bot-
toms that are not their own, and we may sin with other men's
hands, many ways, and one especially is, when we do not lend
our brother that assistance in his work and duty, which our place
and relation obligeth to ; but it is not our sin, that we do not
supply others negligence, by doing that which belongs not to our
place. We are to pray for magistrates that they may rule in the
fear of God ; but if they do not, we may not step upon the bench,
and do his work for him. God requires no more than faithfulness
in our place. We do not find fault with an apple-tree, if it be
laden with apples (which is the fruit of its kind), though we can

find

Stand therefore, 2t%7

find no figs or grapes growing on it ; we expect these only from
their proper root and stock. He is a fruitful tree ia God's or-
chard, that brings forth his fruit in his season, Psal. i. 3.

4. There is poor comfort in suffering fordoing that which was
not the work of our place and calling. Before we launch out in-
to any undertaking, it behoves us to ask ourselves, and that seri-
ously, what our tackling is, if a storm should overtake us in our
voyage. It is folly to engage in that enterprize, which will not
bear us out, and pay the charge of all the loss and trouble it can
put us to. Now, no comfort or countenance from God can be
expected in any suffering, except we can entitle him to the busi-
ness we suffer for. For thy sake are we killed all the day long,
saith the church, Psal. xliv. 22. But if suffering finds us out of
our calling and place, we cannot say, for thy sake we are thus
and thus afflicted, but for our own sakes ; and you know the pro-
verb, self-do^ self-have. The apostle makes a vast difference be-
tween suffering as a busy -body y and suffering as a Christian^ \
Pet. iv. 15, 16. It is to the latter he saith, let him not be
ashamed^ but let him glorify God on this behalf i as for the busy
body, he mates him with thieves and murderers ; and those, I
trow, have reason both to be ashamed and afraid. The carpenter
that gets a cut or wound on his leg from his axe, as he is at work
in his calling, may bear it more patiently and comfortably, than
one that is wantonly meddling with his tools, and hath nothing to
do with such work. When affliction or persecution overtakes the
Christian travelling in the way God hath set him in, he may shew
the bible, as that holy man (suffering for Christ) did, and say.
This hath made me poor, this hath brought me to prison ; that
is, his faith on the truths, ari^l obedience to the commands in it;
and therefore may confidently expect to suffer at God's cost, as
the soldier to be kept and maintained by his prince, in whose ser-
vice he hath lost his limbs. But the other that runs out of his
place, and so meets with sufferings, he hath this to imbitter them,
that he can look for nothing from God, but to be soundly chid
for his pains, as the child is served, that gets some hurt while he
is gadding abroad, and when he comes home at night with his bat-
tered face, meets with a whipping from his father, into the bar-
gain, for being from home. This lay heavy on the spirit of that
learned German, Johannes Funccius, who, of a minister of the
gospel in his prince's court, turned minister of state to his prince ;
and was at last, for some evil counsel (at least so judged), con-
demned to die. Before he suffered, he much lamented the leav-
ing of his calling, and to warn others, left this distich :

To keep thy place and calling learn ofme^
Flee as a plague a meddler for to be,

X 3 5. It

328 Stand therefore*

5. It is a wandering spirit that usually carries men out of their
place and calling, I confess there is an impulse which some of
the servants of God have had from heaven, to do things extraor-
dinary, as we read in scripture of Moses, Gideon, Phineas, and
others : but it is dangerous to pretend to the like, and unlawful
to expect such immediate concessions ffom heaven now, when he
issueth them out in a more ordinary way, and gives rules for the
same in his word. We may as well expect to be taught extraor-
dinarily, without using the ordinary means, as to beT called so. —
When I see any miraculously gifted, as the prophets and apostles,
then I shall think the iraniediate calling they pretend to is au-
thentic. To be stiVe, we find, in the word, extraordinary calling
and extraordinary teaching go together. W^ell, let us see what
that wandering spirit is which carries many out of their place and
calling. It is not always the same ; sometimes it is idleness. —
ITirst, men neglect what they should do, and then are easily per-
suaded to meddle with what they have nothing to do. The
apostle intimates this plainly, 1 Tim. v. 13. They learn to be
idle, wandering from house to house, and not only idle^ but busy
Jbodies, An idle person is a gadder ; he hath his foot on the
threshold, easily drawn from his own place, and as soon into
another's diocese. He is at leisure to hear the devil's chat. He
that will not serve God in his own place ; the devil, rather than
he shall stand out, will send him of his errand, and get him to put
his sickle into another's corn. Secondly, It is pride and discon-
tent that make persons go out of their place ; some men are in
this very unhappy ; their spirits are too big and haughty for the
place God hath set them in. Their calling, may be, is mean and
low, but their spirits high and towering ; and whereas they should
labour to bring their hearts to their condition, they project how
they may bring their condition to their proud hearts^ They
think themselves very unhappy while they are shut up in such
straight limits ; indeed the whole world is too narrow a walk for
a proud heart ; the world was but a little ease to Alexander :
Shall they be hid in a crowd, lie in an obscure corner, and die
before they let the world know their worth ? No, they cannot
brook it, and therefore they must get on the stage, and put them-
selves forth one way or other. It was not the priests' work
that Corah and his accomplices were so in love with, but the
priests' honour which attended the work ; this they desired to
share, and liked not to see others run away with it from them ;
nor the zeal that Absalom had to do justice, which made his teeth
water so after his father's crown, this must silver over his ambi-
tion. These places of church and state are such fair flowers,
that proud spirits in all ages have been ambitious to have them
set in their own garden j though they never thrive so well as in

their

Stand therefore. 329»

their proper soil. In a third, it is unbelief: thii made Uzzah
stretch forth his hand unadvisedly to stay the ark that shook^
which being not a Levite, he was nofto touch. See Numb. iv»
1 5. Alas I good man, it was his faith shook more dangerously
than the ark : by fearing the fall of this, he fell to the ground
himself. God needs not our sin to prop up his glory, truth, or
church. Lastly, in some it is misinformed zeal : many think
they may do a thing, because they can do it. They cau preach,
and therefore they may ; wherefore else have they gifts ? Cer-
tainly the gifts of the saints need not be lost, any of them, though
they be not laid out in the minister's work. The private Chris-
tian hath a large field wherein he may be serviceable ^o his bre-
thren ; he need not break the hedge which God hath set, and
thereby occasion such disorder as we see to be the consequence
of this. We read in the Jewish law, Exod. xxii. that he who set
a hedge on tire, and that fire burnt the corn standing in a field, was
to make restitution, though he only fired the hedge (perhaps not
intending to hurt the cor**) ; and the reason was, because his fir-
ing the hedge was the occasion of the corn being burnt, though
he meant it not. I dare not say, that every private Christian
who hath in these times taken upon him the minister's work, did
intend to make such a combustion in the church, as hath been,
and still sadly is among us. God forbid I should think so ! But,
O that I could clear them from being accessary to it, in that they
have fired the hedge which God hath set between the minister's
calling and people's. If we will acknowledge the ministry a par-
ticular office in the church of Christ (and this I think the word
will compel us to do), then we must also confess it is not any one's
work (though ever so able) except called to the office. There
are many in a kingdom to be found, that could do the piince's er-
rand perhaps as well as his ambassador; but none takes the
place, but he that is sent, and can shew his letters credential.—
Those that are not sent and commissioned by God's call for mi-
nisterial work, they may speak truths as well as they that are %
yet of him that acts by virtue of his calling, we may say that he
preacheth with authority, and not like those who can shew no
commission, but what the opinion themselves have of 1 heir own
abilities gives them. Dost thou like the minister's work ? why
shouldst thou not desire the office, that thou nlaycst do the work
acceptably ? Thou dost find thvself gifted, as thou thinkest, for the
work ; but were not the church more fit to judge so than thyself?
and if thou shouldst be found so by them appointed for the tiial, who
would not give thee the right hand of fellowship ? There are not so
many labourers in Christ's field, but thy help (if able) would be
accepted ; but as now thou actest, thou bringest thyself into sus-
picion in the thoughts of sober Christians j as he woold justly do,

X 4 whof

.330 Stand therefore »

who comes into tlie field, where his prince hath an army, and gives,
out, he comes to do his sovereign service against the common
enemy, yet stands by himself at the head of a troop he hath got
together, and refuseth to take any commission from his prince's
officers, or join himself with them : I question whether the service
such a one can perform (should he mean as he says, which is to
be feared), would do so much good, as the distraction, which this
his carriage might cause in the army, would do hurt.

k«^%<«l%%«^'W%«^«/V«/%%^V«

CHAP. III.

Wherein is contained the third and last Importance of the Word
Stand ; and the Christian's Duty of standing on his Watch
spoken to ; why he is to watch^ and how he should,

npHIRDLY, to standi is here opposed to sleep and sloth ^
-*■ standing is a waking, watchful posture ; when the captain
fiees his soldiers lying secure upon the ground asleep, he bids
stand to your ar?ns, that is, stand and watch. In some cases it
is death for a soldier to be found asleep, as when he is appointed
to stand centiuel, or the like ; now to sleep, deserves death, be-
cause he is to wake that the whole army may sleep ; and his sleep
may cost them their lives ; therefore a great captain thought he
gave that soldier but his due, whom he run through with his sword,
because he found him asleep when he should have stood centiuel,
excusing his severity with this, that he left him but as he found
him : I found him dead in sleep^ and left him but asleep in death.
Watchfulness is more needful for the Christian soldier than any
other, because that other soldiers fight with men that need sleep
as well as themselves ; but the Christian's grand enemy, satan, is
ever awake and walking his rounds, seeking whom he may sur-
prize. And if satan be always awake, it is dangerous for the
Christian at any time to be spiritually asleep, that is, secure and
careless. The Christian is seldom worsted by this his enemy, but
there is treachery or negligence in the business ; either the unrc-
generate part betrays him, or his grace is not wakeful to make a
timely discovery of him, so as to prepare for the encounter ; the
enemy is upon him before he is thoroughly awake to draw his
sword. The saint's sleeping time is satan's tempting time ; every
fly dares venture to creep on a sleeping lion. JVo temptation so
weak, but strong enough to foil a Christian that is napping in
security. Sampson asleep, and Dalilah cut his locks : Saul asleep,
%ud the spear is taken away from his very side, and he never the

wiser :

Stand therefore, 331

wiser : Noah asleep, and his graceless son has a fit time to disco-
ver his father's nakedness : Eutychus asleep, nods, and falls from
the third loft, and is taken up for dead. Thus the Christian,
asleep in security, may soon be surprized so as to lose much of
his spiritual strength ; the joy of the Ijord, which is his strength ;
be robbed of his spear, his armour, graces I mean, at least in
the present use of them, and his nakedness discovered by grace-
less men, to the shame of his profession ; as, when bloody Joab
could take notice of David's vain-glory in numbering the people,
was not David's grace asleep ? Yea, he may fall from a high loft
of profession, so low, into such scandalous practices, that others
may question whether there beany life of grace indeed in him. —
And therefore it behoves the Christian to stand wakefully ; sleep
steals insensibly on the soul, as it doth on the body. The wise
virgins fell asleep as well as the foolish, though not so soundly i
take heed thou dost not indulge thyself in thy lazy distemper, but
stir up thyself to action, as we bid one that is drowsy, stand up,
or walk. Yield to it by idleness and sloth, and it will grow upon
thee ; bestir thj'self in this duty, and that, and it will be over,
David first awakes his tongue to sing, his hand to play on his
harp, and then David's heart awakes also, Psal. li. 8. The lion
('tis said) when he first wakes, lashes himself with his tail, there-
by to stir and rouse up his courage, and then away he goes after
his prey : We have enough to excite and provoke us to use all the
care and diligence possible.

First, The Christian's work is too curious to be done well be-
tween sleeping and waking, and too important to be done ill, and
slumbered over, no matter how. He had need be awake that
walks upon the brink of a deep river, or brow of a steep hill. —
The Christian's path is so narrow, and the danger is so great, that
calls for both a nimble eye to discern, and a steady eye to direct ;
but a sleepy eye can do neither. Look upon any duty or grace,
and you will find it lie between Scylla and Charybdis, two ex-
tremes, alike dangerous. Faith, the great work of God, cuts
its way between the mountain of presumption, andgulf of despair ;
patience, a grace so necessary that we cannot be without it a day,
except we would be all that while beside ourselves. This keeps
us that we fall neither into the sleepy apoplexy of a blockish stu-
pidity, which deprives the creature of its senses ; nor into a rag-
ing fit of discontent, which hath sense enough, and too much, to
feel the hand of God, but deprives the man of his reason, that he
turns again upon God, and shoots back the Almighty's arrows on
his fiery face, in the fury of his froward spirit. The like we
might say of the rest. No truth but hath some error next door to
her ; no duty can be performed without approaching very near
ihe enemies quarters, who soon takes the alarm, and comes out

te

352 - Stand therefore,

to oppose the Christian ; and ought he not then to have alvvay*
his heart on the watch ?

Secondly, The trouble of watching is not comparable to the ad-
vantage it brings,

1. l^y this, thou frustratest the designs satan hath upon thee:
It is worth watching to keep the house from robbing, much more
the heart from rifling by the devil. Watch,^ thai ye enter not
into temptation^ Mat. xxvi. 51. He buy<< his sleep dear, that
pays his throat-cutting for it ; yea, though the wound be not so
deep, but may be cured at last. Thy not watching one night may
keep thee awake manv a night upon a more uncomfortable oc-
casion. And hadst thou not better awake with care, to keep thy-
self from a mischief, then afterward thy eyes be held open
(whether thou wilt or not) with pain and anguisl\ of the wound
given thee in thy sleep ? You know how sadly David was bruis-
ed by a fall got in his spiritual slumber ; (for what else was he,
when in the eventide he rose from his bed, and walked upon the
roof of his house, like a man walking in his sleep ? 2 Sam. xi. 2.),
and how many restless nights this brought over this holy man's
head, you may perceive by his own mournful complaints of this
sin, which is the foot and sad burthen of several mournful psalms.

2. By thy watchfulness thou shalt best learn the evil of a sleepy
state ; one asleep is not sensible of his own snoring, how uncome-
ly and troublesome to others it is, but he that is awake is appre-
hensive of both. The man asleep is not sensible, if laid naked by
some that would abuse him ; but he that is awake, observes, is
ashamed, and covers him ; thus while thou art in a spiritual sense
awake, thou canst not but observe many uncomely passes in the
lives of those professors, who do not watch their hearts, which
will fill thy heart with pit)^ to them, to see how they are abused
by satan and their own passions, which, like rude servants, take
this their own time to play their pranks in, when they have made
sure of their mistress (grace, I mean, now laid asleep), that
should keep them in better rule : Yea, it will make the blood
come into thy face for shame, to see how, by their nakedness, pro-
fession itself is flouted at by them that pass by, and see how it is
wit)i them. Well, what thou blushest to see, and pitiest to find in
another, take heed it befal not thyself ; if thou sufFerest a spiri-
tual slumber to grow upon thee, thou wilt be the man thyself that
all this may come upon, and what not besides ? Sleep levels all :
the wise man then is no wiser thaii a fool, to project for his safety ;
nor the strong man better than the weak, to defend himself ; if
slumber fails once upon thy eye, it is night with thee, and thou
art (though the best of saints) but as other men, so far as this
sleep prevails over thee.

3. By thy watchfulness thou shalt invite such company in unto

thee,

Stand tJitrefore, 333

thee, as will make the time short, and sweet, and that is thy
dear Saviour, whose sweet communication and discourse about the
things of thy Father's kingdom, will make that thou shalt not
grudge the ease sleepy Christians get, with the loss of such aa
heavenly entertainment as thou enjoyest. Who had not (that
loves his soul better than his body) rather have David's songs,
than David's sleep, in the night ? And who had not rather have
Christ's comforting presence with awaking soul, than his absence
with a sleepy slothful one? 'Tis the watchful soul that Christ de-
lights to be with, and open his heart unto. We do not choose
that for the time of giving our friends a visit, when they arc
asleep in their beds ; nay, if we be with them, and perceive they
grow sleepy, we think it is time to leave them to their pillow ;
and verily Christ doth so too. Christ withdraws from the spouse,
till she be better awake, as a fitter time for her to receive his
loves. Put the sweetest wine into a sleepy man's hand, and you
are like to have it spilt ; yea, put a purse of gold into his hand,
and the man will hardly remember in the morning what you gave
him over-night. Thus in the sleepy state of a soul, both the
Christian loseth the benefit, and Christ the praise of his mercy ;
and therefore Christ will stay to give out his choice favours when
the soul is more wakeful, that he may both do the creature good,
and the creature may speak good of him for it.

Quest, But how must the Christian stand upon his watch ?

Answ, First, constantly. The lamp of God in the tabernacle
was to burn alwai/s, Exod. xxvii. 20. and xxx. 8. that is, al-
ways in the night, which sense is favoured by several other places.
And I pray, what is our life in this world but a dark night of
temptation ? Take heed. Christian, that thy watch-candle go
not out in any part of this darksome time, lest thy enemy come
upon thee in that hour. He can find thee, but thou not resist
him in the dark ; if once thy eye be shut in a spiritual slumber,
thou art a fair mark for his wrath ; and know, thou canst not be
long off thy watch, but the devil will hear of it. The devil knew
the apostles' sleeping time, and then he desires leave to winnow
them, Luke xxii. He saw they were in some disorder, the eye
of their soul began to be heavy ; the thief riseth when honest meu
go to bed. The devil, I am sare, begins to tempt when saints
cease to watch ; when the staff is thrown away, then the wolf ap-
pears. When the soul puts her danger farthest off, and lies most
secure, then 'tis nearest ; therefore labour to be constant in thy
holy care ; the want of this spoils all. Some you shall have, that
after a great fall into a sin that hath bruised them sorely, will
seem very careful for a time where they set their foot, how they
walk, and what company they come in ; but as soon as the sore-
ness of their coasciences wears off, their watch breaks up, and

they

334 Stand therefore,

they are as careless as ever ; like one that is very careful to shnt
up his shop strongly, and may sit up late to watch it also, for two
or three nights after it hath been robbed, but then minds it no
more. Others, in an affliction, or newly come out of the furnace,
O how nice and scrupulous are they, while the smell of fire is
about them, and memory of their distress fresh ! They are as ten-
der of sinning, as one that comes out of a hot close room is of the
air ; they shrink at every breath of temptation stirring. But
alas ! how soon are they hardened to commit those sins without
remorse, the bare motion of which, but a little before, did so
trouble and afflict them ? Josephus, in his Antiquities, tells us,
that the sons of Noah, for some years after the flood, dwelt on the
tops of high mountains, not daring to take up their habitation
in the lower ground, for fear of being drowned by another flood ;
yet in the process of time (seeing no flood came) they ventured
down to the plain of Shinur, where their former fear we see ended
in one of the boldest, proudest attempts against God, that the
sun was ever witness to ; the building, I mean, of a tower whose
top should reach heaven. Gen. ix. 2. 3. They, who at first
were so maidenly and fearful as not to venture down their hills,
for fear of drowning, now have a design to secure themselves a-
gainst all future attempts from the God of heaven himself. Thus
oft we see God's judgments leave such an impression in men's spi-
rits, that for a while they stand aloof from their sins (as they on
their hills) afraid to come down to them ; but when they see fair
weather continue, and no clouds gather towards another storm^
then they can descend to their old wicked practices, and grow
nitre bold and heaven-daring than ever. But if thou wilt be a
Christian indeed, keep on thy watch still, remit not in thy care ;
thou hast well run hitherto ; O lie not down (like some lazy tra-
veller) by the way side to sleep, but reserve thy resting time till
thou gettest home out of all danger. Thy God rested not till the
last day's work in the creation was finished ; neither do thou cease
to wake or work, till thou canst say thy salvation-work is fi-
nished.

Secondly, watch wmWr4«% y First, wsitch thy whole man.

The honest watchman walks the rounds, and compasseth the

whole town. He doth not limit his care to this house or that.

So do thou watch over thy whole man. A pore in thy body is a
door wide enough to let in a disease, if God command ; and any
one faculty of thy soul, or member of thy body, to let in an ene-
my that may endanger thy spiritual welfare. Alas, how few set
the watch round ? some one faculty is not guarded, or member of
the body not regarded. He that is scrupulous in one, you shall
find him secure in another : may be, thou settest a watch at the
door of thy lips, that no impure commnnication ofFeods the ears

of

1

Siand therefoie» 33^

men ; but how is the Lord^s watch kept at the temple door of thy
heart ? 2 Chron, xxiii. 6. Is not that defiled with lust ? Thou
(may be) keepest rliy hand out of thy neighbour's purse, aud foot
from going on a thievish errand to thy neighbour's house : but does
not thy envious heart grudge him what God allows him ? Whea
thou prayest, thou art very careful thy outward posture be reve-
rend ; but what eye hast thou on thy soul, that it performs its
part iii the duty ? Secondly, watch ifi every thing : If the apostle
bids in every thing give t/iank«^ then it behoves us in evert/ thing
to watch, that God may not lose his praise, which he 'doth in
most, for want of watching. No action so little (almost) but we
may in it do God, or the devil, some service, and therefore none
too little for our care to be bestowed on. He was a holy man
indeed, of whom it was said, that he ate a/nd drank eternal life.
The meaning is, he kept such holy watch over himself in these
things, that he was in heaven while doing them. There is no
creature so little among all God's works, but his providence watch.*
eth over it, even to a sparrow, and a hair. Let there be no word
or work of thine, over which thou art not watchful. Thou shalt
be judged by them, even to thy idle words and thoughts, and
wilt thou not have care of them ?

Thirdly, watch wisely ; which thou shalt do, if thou knowest
'where thou shouldst keep strictest watch, and that must be first
in the weightiest duty of the command ; tything of cummin and
anise must not be neglected, but take heed thou doest not neglect
the weightiest things of the law, judgment^ merci/^ and faith^
Mat. xxiii. 23, making your preciseness in the less, a blind for
your horrible wickedness in the greater.

Begin at the right end of your work (Christian), by placing
your chief care about those main duties to God and man, in his
law and gospel, in his worship, and in thy daily course, which,
when thou hast done, neglect not the circumstantials ; should a
master, before he goes forth, charge his servant to look to his
child, and trim hi-^ house up handsomely against he comes home ;
when he returns, will he thank his servant for sweeping his house,
and making it trim (as he bade him), if he finds his child, through
his negligence, fallen into the fire, and by it killed or crippled ?
No, sure ; he left his child with him as his chief care, to which
the other should have yielded, if both'could not be done. There
hath been a great zeal of late among us, about some circumstan-
tials of worship ; but who looks to the little child, the main duties
of Christianity 1 mean ? Was there ever less love, charity, self-
denial, h'javenly-mindedness, or the power of holiness in any of
its several walks, than in this sad age of ours ? alas, these, like
the child, are in great danger of sharing in the fire of contention,
and division, which a perverse zeal in less things hath kindled

among

S36 Stand therefore,

among us. Secondly, Be sure thon beest watchful more than or<»
dinary over thyself, in those things where thou findest thyself
weakest, and hast been ofteuest foiled. The weakest part of the
city needs the strongest guard, and in our bodies the tenderest
part is most observed, and kept warmest. And 1 should think it
were strange, if thy fabrick of grace stands so strong and even,
that thou shouldst not soon perceive which side needs the prop
most, by some inclination of it one way more than another. The
body is not so firm, but thou tindest this humour over-abound, and
that part craze faster than another ; and so niayest thou in thy
soul. Well, take counsel in the thing, and what thou findest
weakest watch most carefully. Is it thy head that is weak, thy
judgment I mean ? Watch thyself, and come not among those
that drink no wine but that which thy weak parts cannot bear,
(seraphic notions, and high-flown opinions), and do not think
thyself much wronged to be forbidden their cup ; such strong
wine is more heady than hearty, and they that trade most with
it, are not found of the healthiest tempers of their souls, no more
than they that live most of strong-water, are for their bodies. Is
thy im potency in thy passions ? Indeed we are weak, as they
are strong and violent. Now watch over them, as one that dwells
in a thatched house would do of every spark that flies out of his
chimney, lest it should light on it, and set all on fire. O take
heed what speeches come from thy mouth, or from any thou con-
versest with ; this is the little instrument that sets the whole
course of nature in a flame ; when our neighbour's house is on fire^
we cast water on our roof, or cover it with a wet sheet ; when the
flame breaks out at another's mouth, now look thou throwest wa-
ter on thy own hot spirit; some cooling, wrath -quenching scrip-
tures and arguments ever carry with thee for that purpose ; and so
in any other particular, as thou findest thy weakness.

CHAP. I.
VERSE 14. Having ^our loins girt about toith Truth.

THE Apostle having ordered the Ephesians, and in them every
Christian, the posture vyhich they are to observe in fight with
their enemy ; he comes now to instance in the several pieces of
that armour, which before he had commanded to them only in ge-
neral. Th& first of which is the srirdle of truth.

Wherein

Having your Loins, 33?

Wherein is contained a brief Explication of the Words*

TTAVING t^otir Loins girt about with truth. A twofold in-
-^ qiuvy is here requisite. First, what he means by Truth,-^
Secondly, what by loim^ and their being girt with truth.

First, for the first. What is truth here ? Some by truth un-
derstand Christ, who indeed elsewhere is called the truth; yet in
this place J conceive, not so properly, because the apostle instan-
ceth here in several pieces and parts of armour, one distinct from
another, and Christ cannot so well be said to be a single piece to
defend this or that part, as the whole, in whom we are complete ;
compared therefore, Rom. xiii. to the whole suit of armour, Put
1/e on the Lord JesuSj that is, be clothed and harnessed with Christ
as a soldier with his armour cap-a-pee. Some by tt^thj mean a
truth of doctrine ; others will have it truth of heart, sincerity ;
they I think best, that comprise both. And so I shall handle it ;
both indeed are rcquired to make the girdle complete ; one will
not do without the other. 'Tis impossible to find good meanings,
and a kind of sincerity without, yea, against the truth. Many
follow an error, as they Absalom, in the simplicity of their hearts.
Such do ill while they mean well. Good intentions do no more
wake a good action, than a fair mark makes a good shot by an
unskilful archer. God did not like Saul's zeal when he persecut-
ed the Christian Church, though he thought (no question) he did
him good service therein. Neither is it enough to \\2i\& truth on
our side, if we have not truth in our hearts. Jehu was a great
stickler against idolatry, but kicked down all again by his hypo-
crisy. Both then are necessary ; sincerity to propound a right
end ; and knowledge of the word of truths to direct us in the right
way to that end.

Secomlly, What is meant here by loins that art to be girt with
this girdle. The loins must be like the girdle. This is spi-
ritual, and therefore they must be so. Peter will help to inter-
pret Paul ; Gird tip the loins of your minds, 1 Pet. i. 13. They
are our minds and spirits which must wear this girdle, and very
fitly may our spirits and minds be compared to the loins. The
loins are the chief seat of bodily strength. Of Behemoth it is said.
Job xl. 6. His strength is in his loins. The loins are to the body,
as the keel to the ship. The whole ship is knit to that, and sus-
tained by it ; and the body to the loins ; if the loins fail, the
whole body sinks ; hence to smite through the loins^ is a phrase
to express destruction and ruin, Deut. xxxiii. 11. weak loins, and
a weak man ; if we be but a little weary, nature directs us to lay
our hands on our loins and sustain them, as our chief strength :
Thus as the actings of our minds and spirits are in the faculties

And

338 Mavingyour Loms*

and powers, so we are weak or strong Christians ; if their under-
standing be clear in its apprehensions of truth, and the will sin-
cere, vigorous, and fixt in its purposes, for that which is holy and
good, then he is a strong Christian : But if the understanding be
dark, or uncertain in its notions (as a distempered eye that cannot
well discern its object), and the will be wavering and unsteady
(like a needle that trembles between two loadstones) not able to
bring its thoughts to an issue, which to close with, here the man
is weak, and all he doth will be so. Feeble spirits cause an in-
termitting faultering pulse; so want of strength in the mind, to
know the truth, and resolution in the will to pursue that which
he knows to be holy and good, causeth a man to faulter in his
course. The use therefore of these two, truth of doctrine for the
mind, and sincerity for the will, is to unite and establish both
these faculties, which they do when they are clasped and girt
about the soul, as the girdle about the loins of the body. Though
the loins be the strength of the body, yet they need an auxiliary,
their strength from the girdle to keep those parts close, and unite
their force, without which, men, when they would strain them-
selves, and put forth their strength in any work, find a trembling
and looseness in their loins. Hence the shaking of the loins, is
a phrase to express weakness, Psal. Ixix. %3. Thus our minds
and spirits need this girdle to strengthen them in every work we
do, or else we shall act nothing vigorously.

First, We shall begin with truth of doctrine^ or truth of the
word, called the word of truth^ Ephes. i. 13. because it is the
word of God, who is the God of truth. It behoves every Chris-
tian to be well girt with this truth. Resist the devil (saith
Peter) stedfast in the faith^ 1 Pet. v. 9. that is, in the truths
faith being there but|for the object of our faith, which is the truth
of God, declared in the doctrine of the gospel ; this is the faith
which was once delivered to the saints, Jude x. that is, the truth
delivered to them to be believed and held fast. And of what im-
portance it is to be thus stedfast in the faith, the apostle Peter, in
the following verse of the aforementioned place, shews, by his
vehement and earnest praying for them, that God would stablish^
strengthen^ and settle them. The heaping of woids to the same
purpose, implies the great danger they were in, of being unset-
tled by satan, and his instruments, and the necessity of theip
standing firm and unshaken in the faith. Nothing is more fre-
quently inculcated than this in the epistles, and the more because
in those blustering times, it was impossible to have kept the faith
from being blown from them, without this girdle to hold it fast.
Now, as there is a double design satan hath to rob Christians of
truth, so there is a twofold girding about with this truth neces-
sary.

First,

\

1

Girt about with Truth. 339

First, Satan comes as a serpent^ in the persons of false teach-
ers, and by them labours to put a cheat on us, and cozea us with
error for truth. To defend us against this design, it is necessary
we be girt with truth in our understanding, that we have an esta-
blished judgment in the truths of Christ.

Secondly, satau comes sometimes as a lion, in the persons of
bloodj/ persecutors^ and labours to scare Christians from the truth
with fire and faggot. Now to defend us against this, we need
have truth girt about us, so that with a holy resolution we may
maintain our profession in the face of death and danger. To be-
gin with the first.

CHAP. II.

Wherein is shewn : It is the Christian's Diity to labour for a
Judgment established in the Truths with the Reasons of it ,*
as also some Application of the Point*

T should be the care of every Christian to get an established
judgment in the truth. The Bereans are highly commended,
for the inquiry they made into the scripture, to satisfy their judg-
ments concerning the doctrine Paul preached. I'hey did not be-
lieve hand over head ; but their faith was the result of a judgment
(upon diligent search) convinced by scripture evidence. Acts
xvii. II.; it is said there, Theif searched the scriptures dailj/y
whether these things were so. They cairied the preachers doc-
trine to the written word, and compared it with that ; and mark,
ver. 12. Therefore mani/ believed 'y as they did not believe be-
fore, so they durst not but believe now. I remember Tertulliaa
speaking of some hereticks, their manner of preaching, saith,
Thet/ teach by persuading^ and not persuade by teaching : that
is, they woo and entice the affections of their hearers, without
convincing of their judgment about what they preach. Indeed it
were a hard work for the adulterer to convince her he would pros-
titute, that the fact is lawful; No, he goes another way to
work ; Fir.«t, by some amorous insinuations he inveigles her af-
fections, and they once bewitched, the other is not so much ques-
tioned, it being easy for the affections to make the judgment of
their party. Well, though error, like a thief, comes thus in at
* the window ; yet truth, like the owner of the house, delights to
enter at the right door of understanding, from thence into the con-
^ficience, and so passeth into the will and affections. Indeed, he
that hits upon truth, and takes up the profession of it, before he
is brought into the acquaintance of its excellency, and heavenly

y beauty.

340 Having your Loins

beauty, by his understanding, cannot entertain it becoming its
heavenly birth and descent ; 'tis as a prince that travels in dis-
guise, not kmtwn^ therefore not honoured. Truth is loved and
prized only of those that know it ; and not to desire to know
it, is to despise it ; as much as knowing it, to reject it. It were
not hard sure to cheat that man of truth, who knows not what he
hath. Truth and error are all one to the ignorant man, so it hath
but the name of truth. Leah and Rachel were both alike to
Jacob in the dark. Indeed, 'tis said, In the morning, behold, it
was JLeah^ Gen. xxix. 25. So in the morning, when 'tis day in
the under-^tanding, then the deceived person will see he hath had
a false bride in his bosom 5 will cry out, behold, 'tis an error
which I took for a truth. You have, may be, heard of the co-
vetous man, that hugged himself in the many bags of gold he had,
but never opened them, or used them ; when the thief took away
his gold, and left him his bags full of pebbles in the room, he wa«
as happy as when he had his gold, for he looked not of the one or
other. And verily an ignorant person is in a nianner no better
with truth than error on his side : Both are alike to hiui ; day
and night, all one to a blind man.

But to proceed and give some more particular account, why the
Christian should endeavour for an established judgment in the
truth, 1 shall content myself with three reasons. The first taken
from the damning nature of false doctrine ; the second from the
subtelty of seducers to draw into false doctrine ; and the third,
from the universal influence that an established doctrine hath ou
the whole man, and whole course of a Christian.

First, From the damning nature of false doctrines. They hunt
for the precious life of souls, as well as any other sin. An im-
postume in the head proves oft as deadly as one in the stomach.
A corrupt judgment in foundati^- truths kills as sure as a rotten
heart ; indeed it proceeds thence. Je^eheVs diildren arc
threatened to be killed with death. Rev. ii. 4^3. ; and who are
her children, but her disciples, that drink of her cup of fornica-
tion, and embrace her corrupt doctrines ? But sure this is not
believed by some, who, though very strict in their lives, and
seem as tender in matters of morality as Lot was of his guests,
yet are very loose in their principles and judgments, exposing
them (as heiiis daughters) to be defiled with any corrupt doctrine
that comes to their door. They would make us think, that here
men played but at small games, and their souls were not at stake,,
as in other sins ; as if there were not such a question to be asked
at the great day, what opinions we held, and whether we were
sound in the faith ? In a word, as if false doctrines were but an
innocent thing, not like the wild gourd, which brought death in-
to the prophet's pot, 2 Kiiigs iv. (turning wholesome i'dod, with

which

Girt ahmit with Truth, S^X

which it was mingled, into baneful poison), but rather like herb
John in the pot, that does neither much good nor hurt. Yea,
there be some that speak out, and tell us, a man may be saved ia
any religion, so he doth but follow his light; and are not these
charitable men, who, because t}iey would have the company ^s
few as may be that are damned, make as many roads to heaven,
as the scriptures tell us there are ways to hell ? Contrary to
Christ, who tells us of no other way but by him to life, / am the
way, the truth, and the life, John xiv. 6. : point blank against
St. John, who tells us but of one doctrine, and that the doctrine
of Christ ; and he that holds not this, to be marked out for a lost
man, 2 John, ver. 9. 10. Whoever transgiesseth^ and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christy hath not God ; and how far I pray
is that man off hell, that hath not God? He that hath not God
before he dies, the devil shall have him when he dies. Well, sirs,
the time is coming, yea, it hastens (what favour and kindness
soever corrupt doctrine find here at man's hand), wherein'the ob-
stinate heretic shall receive the same law at Christ's hands with
the impenitent drunkard ; yQu may see them both under the same
condemnation, as they stand pinioned together for hell. Gal. v.
20, 21. t tell t/ou now (saitn the apostle), as I have told you
in times past ^ that they which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God. And see, I pray you, if you cannot find the
heretick's name among them ; ignorance in fundamentals is dam-
ning, sure then error in fundamentals much more. If a pound
weighs down the scale, there is no doubt tb,en but a stone weight
will do it. If the less sin presseth down to hell, how can we ra-
tionally think that the greater should escape it? Error stands at
a farther distance from, yea, a fuller contrariety to truth, than
ignorance. Fjrror is ignorance with a dye on it. He that eats
little or nothing, must needs die ; much more he that eats rank
poison. The apostle doth not only tell us oi^ pernicious doctrines^
and damnable heresies^ but he tells us, they bring swift damna-
tion upon those that hold them, 2 Pet. ii. 1. I pray observe
what an accent he lays on the damnation that comes by these cor-
rupt doctrines : he calls it swift damnation. All rivers find their
way at last to the sea from whence they sprang, but some return
with a more swift stream, and get sooner to it than others.—
Would any make it a shorter voyage to hell than ordinar}^, let
him throw himself but into this stream of corrupt doctrine, and
he is not like to be long in going.

Secondly, Because impostors are so subtle, therefore it behoves
the Christian to establish and strengthen his judgment in the
truths of Christ. They arc a generation of men, skilful to destroy
the faith of others. There is an erudita nequitia in the world, as
VUG calls it, a learned kind of wickedness, that some have to cor-

V 2 rupt

S4& Having your Loins

rupt the minds of men. The spirit of God sets them out to the
life, sometimes comparing them to merchants, who can set a gloss
upon their false ware with fine words, 2 Pet. ii. 3. They are said
with feigned words io m2^G merchandize of souls. To hucks-
ters that blend, and dash their wine with water, 2 Cor. ii. 17.
To cheating gamesters, that have a slight-of-hand to cogg the
dye, Ephes. iv. 14. Yea, to witches themselves. Gal. iii. 1.
Who hath bewitched you ? saith the apostle. Strange things
have been done in our days, on those that God has suffered
them to practise their sorcery upon, and what counter-charm bet-
ter than an established judgment ? 'Tis observable, that, in 2
Tim. iii. where the apOvStle compares the seducers of that present
a.ge to those sorcerers, Jannes and Jambres, that resisted Moses,
and shews what kind of persons they were that fell into their
snare ? such as, though ever learnings yet never come to the know-
ledge of the truth, ver. 7. Then he turns to Timothy, ver 10.
£ut thou hast fully known my doctrine. As if he had said, I am
out of fear for thee, thou art better grounded in the doctrine of
the apostle, than to be thus cheated of it. Indeed, those whom
seducers lie in wait for, are chiefly weak unsettled ones ; for as
Solomon saith. In vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird^
Prov. i. 17. The devil chose rather to assault Eve, than Adam,
as more likely of the two to be catched. And ever since he takes
the same course, he labours to creep over where the hedge is low-
est, and the resistance like to be weakest. Three characters you
may observe of those who are most commonly seduced. First,
they are called, simple ones, Rom. xvi. 18. By good words and
fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple : such who mean
well, but want wisdom to discern those that mean ill ; incautious
ones, that dare pledge every body, and drink of any one's cup,
and never suspect poisoning. Secondly, Children, Eph. iv. 14.
-Be no more children , tossed to and fro* with every wind of doc-
trine. Now children are very credulous, prone to believe every
one that gives them a parcel of fair words; they think any thing
is good if it be sweet ; it is not hard to make them eat poison for
sugar ; they are not swayed by principles of their own, but by
others ; the child reads, construes, and learns his lesson as his
master saith, and thinks it therefore, right. Thus, poor crea-
tures, that have little knowledge of the world themselves, ihey
are easily persuaded this or that way, even as those of whom
they have a good opinion please to lead them ; let the doctrine
be but sweet, and it goes down glib ; they, like Isaac, bless their
opinions by feeling, not by sight ; hence many poor creatures ap-
plaud themselves so much of the joy they have found since they
were of this judgment, and that way, not being able to try the
comfoit^and sweetness they feel, by the truth of their way, from the

v>ord.

Girt about with Truth. 343

word, they are fain to believe the truth of it by their feeling, and
30, poor creatures, they bless error for 'truth. Thirdly, They
are such as are unstable, 2 Pet. ii. 14. beguiling unstable souls^
such as are not well grounded and principled. The truth they
profess hath no aochor-hold in their understanding, and so they
are at the mercy of the wind, soon set adrift, and carried dowu
the stream of those opinions, which are the favourites of the pre-
sent time, and are most cried up, even as the dead fish with the
current of the tide.

Thirdly, We are to endeavour after an established judgment in
the truth, because of the universal influence it hath upon the
whole man. First, upon the memory, which is helped much by
the understanding. The more weight is laid on the seal, the
deeper impression is made on the wax. The memory is that
faculty which carries the images of things. It holds fast what we
receive, and is that treasury where we lay up what we desire af-
terwards to use and converse with. Now the more clear and cer-
tain our knowledge of any thing is, the deeper it sinks, and surer
it is held by the memory. Secondly, upon the aflfections : Truth
is a light ; the more steady and fixed the glass of the understand-
ing is, through which its beams are darted upon the affections, the
sooner they take fire. Did not our hearts bmn^ (said the dis-
ciples) within us, while he opened into us the scrtpiwxs ? Luke
xxiv. 32, They had heard (no doubt) Christ preach much of
what then he said before his passion, but never were they so sa-
tisfied and confirmed as now, when scriptures and understanding
were opened together, and this made their, hearts burn. The sua
in the firmament sends his influence where he doth not shed his
beams, I mean, into the bowels of the earth ; but the Sun of Righ-
teousness imparts his influence only where his light comes ; he
spreads the beams of truth into the understanding to enlighten
that ; and while the creature sits under these wings, a kindly
heart-quickening heat is begot in its bosom. Hence we find, even
when the spirit is promised as a comforter, he comes as a convin-
cer, Johnxvi. 13.: he comforts by teaching. And certainly the
reason why many poor trembling souls have so little heat of hea-
venly joy in their hearts, is, because they have so little light to
understand the nature and tenor of the gospel-covenant. The
further a soul stands from the light of truth, the further he must
needs be from the heat of comfort. Thirdly, an established
judgment hath a powerful influence upon the life and conversation.
The eye directs the foot ; he walks very unsafely that sees not
his way ; and he uncomfortably that is not resolved whether right
or wrong. That which moves, must rest on something that doth
not move : a man could not walk if the earth turned under his
feet. Now the principles we have in our understandings are, as

Y 3 it

344 Having yoiir Loins

it were, the ground we go upon in all our actions ; if they stagger
and reel, much more will our life and practice. It is as impossible
for a shaking hand to write a straight line, as an uniixed judg-
ment to have an even conversation. The apostle joins stedfast-
ness and unmoveablen ess with aboundmgm the work of the Lord,
1 Cor. XV. 58. And if I mistake not, he means chiefly in that
place, stcdfastness of judgment, in that truth of the resurrection,
which some had been shaking. It is not the many notions we
have, but the establishment we have in the truth makes us strong
Christians ; as he is a strong man whose joints are well set toge-
ther and knit, not he who is spun out at length, but not thicken-
ed suitable to his height. One saith well, Men are what they see
and judge ; though some do not fill up their light, yet none go be-
yond it. A truth under dispute in the understanding is, as I may
so say, stopped in the head ; it cannot commence in the heart, or
become practicable in the life, but when it passeth clearly there,
and upon its commendation is embraced in the will and affections,
then it is held fast, and hath powerful effects in the conversation.
The gospel (it is said) came to the Thessalonians in much assur-
ance^ I Thes. i. 6. i. e. evidence of its truth ; and see how preva-
lent and operative it was, ver. 6. Ye became folloioers of vs^
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction^
ioith joy in the Holy Ghost. They were assured that the doc-
trine was of God ; and this carried them merrily through the sad-
dest afflictions which attended the same.

Use i. First, To reprove those, that instead of endeavouring
to establish their judgments in the truth, make it their greatest
study how to strengthen themselves in their errors. I am per-
suaded some men take more pains to furnish themselves with ar-
guments to defend some one error they have taken up, than they
do for the most saving truths in the Bible ; yea, they could soon- ^
er die at a stake to defend one error they hold, than all the truths j
they profess. Austin saith of himself when he was a Manichsean^^
Thou, O Lord^ uert not, hut my error was my God, O 'tisj
hard to reduce a person deeply engaged in the defence of an en or ;
how oft had the Pharisees their mouths stopped by our Saviour !
yet few or none reclaimed. Their spirits were too proud to re-
cant. What, they lay down the bucklers, come down from Mos-
es chair, and confess what they might have taught the people for
an oracle, is now false ! They will rather go on, and brave it out as
well as they can, than come back with shame, though the shame
was not to be ashamed of their error, but ashamed to confess it.
The cynic answered smartly, who, coming out of a brothel-house,
was asked, whether he was not ashamed to be seen coming out of
such a naughty house ? — No, the shame was to go in, but honesty
to come out, O sirs, 'tis bad enough to fall into an error, but

worse

Gtrt about with Truths 345

worse to persist. The first shews thee a weak man ; but the other
makes thee too like the devil, who is to this day of the same mind
he was at his first fall

Use 2, Secondly, It proves those who labour to unsettle the
judgment of others, to ungird this belt about the Christian's loins.
They come with the devil's question in their mouths. Yea, hath
(rod said f Are you sure this is a truth ? Do not your Ministers
deceive you ? Labouring slily to breed suspicions and jealousies ia
the hearts of Christians towards the truths they have received 5
such were they that troubled the Galatians, whom Paul wished to
cut offi'ov their pains, Gal. v. 12. They laboured to puzzle thera^
hy starting scruples in their minds concerning the doctrine of the
gospel. This is a cunning way at last to draw thee from the faith,
and therefore they are called subverters of the faith of others, Z
Tim. ii. 14. Tit. i. 11. The house must ueeds be in danger,

..when the groundsels are loosened ; can you think he means ho-
nestly, that undermines the foundation of your house? This they
do, that would call in question the grand truths of the gospel :
But this is a small fault in our loose age, or else so many seducers
would not be suffered (whom I may call spiritual rogues and va-
grants) to wander like gypsies up and down, bewitching poor
simple souls to their perdition. O 'tis sad, that he who steals the

.worth of two or three shillings, should hold up his hand at the
bar for his life, yea, sometimes hang for it ; and that those who
rob poor souls of the treasure of saving truths, and subvert the
faith of whole families, should be allowed to lift up their heads
with impudence, glorying in their impunity : that blasphemy
.igaiiist God should not bear an action, where blasphemy against
the king is indicted for treason. It is well that God loves his
truth better than men, or else these would escape in both worlds,
but God hath declared himself against them. There is a day,
when they who rob souls of truth, shall be found and condemned
as greater felons, than they who rob houses of gold and silver. —
/"(See how God lays their indictment, Jer. xxiii. 30. Behold, I
am against the prophets^ saith the Lord, that steal my word^
every one from his neighbour. He means the false prophets that

, enticed the people from those truths, which the faithful servants

, of God had delivered to them. There will be none on the bench
to plead, the blasphemer and seducer's cause, when God shall sit
judge.

Use 3. Thirdly, This might well chastise the strange fickleness
and uusettledness of judgment, which many labour with in this un-
constant age.. Truths in many professors minds, are not as stars

^fixedin the heavens, but like meteors, that dance in the air; they
are not as characters engraven in marble, but writ in the dust,
which every wind and idle breath of seducers deface j many en-

T 4 tertaia

346 Having your Loins

tertain opinions, as some entertain suitors, not that they mean to
marry them, but cast them off as soon as new ones come. Never wa*
there a more giddy age than ours. What is said of fashion-mongers,
that some men, should they see their pictures in that habit
wliich they wore a few years past, would hardly know themselves
in their present, they would be found not the same men, is most
true in regard of their opinions. Should many that have been
great professors, take a view of their religious principles a dozen
years .ago, and compare them with the present, they would be
found not the same men. They have so chopped and changed,
that they seemed to have forsaken their old faith. Not that the
old which they renounce was false, or the new which they espouse
is true ; but because they were either ignorant of the truth they
first professed, or were insincere in the profession of it ; and it is
no wonder that the one should upon easy terms part with that,
which he first took up on as weak grounds as now he leaves it ; or
that the other who did not love or improve the truth he profess-
ed, should be given up of God, to change it for an error. If the
heathen (who did not glorify God with the light of nature they
had) were righteously given up to a reprobate injudicious mind,
to do that which was inconvenient, and morally absurd ; then
they who dishonour God with the revealed light of scripture-truth,
much more deserve that they should be given up to that which is
spiritually wicked, even to believe lies and errors for truth : A
heavy curse, did we rightly judge of it, to wander and wilder in
a maze of error, and yet think they are walking in the way of
truth.

Quest* But may some say, How is it possible that ordinary pro-
fessors should attain to this established judgment in the truth,
when we see many of great parts and eminency, much unsettled
in their judgments ?

Answ. We must distinguish, first, of persons : secondly, of
truths. First, of persons, there are many eminent for parts,
whose parts want piety to establish them, and no wonder to see
wanton wits unfixed in the truths of God. None sooner topple
over into error, than those who have not an honest heart, to a nim-
ble head. The richest soil without culture is most tainted with
such weeds. They have been men of unsanctified parts, that
have been the leaders in the way of error, though the more sim-
ple and weak that are led by them. They are knowing men,
who first disgorge and vomit error from their corrupt hearts, and
ignorant ones that lick it up. And therefore despair not of an es-
tablished judgment so long as thou desirest to have an honest up-
right heart, and conscientiously usest the means. The promise
is on thy side, Psal. cxi. 10. The fear of the Lord is the be-
ginning of wisdom^ and a good understanding have theT^ that do
his commands* Secoadly,

Girt about with Truth, 347

Secondly, We must distinguish of truths, some are fundanoen-
tal, others are superstrnctory ; now though many eminent for
piety, as well as parts, are in the dark concerning some of the
superstructory and more circumstantial (because mysteriously
laid down in the word), yet there is a sweet harmony among the
godl}^ in fundamentals. And in those, poor soul, thou mayest
come, by a faithful use of means, to be established. As for our
bodies, God hath so provided, that things necessary to preserve
their life, are more common, and to be had at a cheaper rate,
than things for delicacy and state. So also for our souls. If
bread were as heard to come by as sweet-meats, or water as scarce
as wine, the greatest part of men must needs famish ; so if truths
necessary to salvation, were as hard to be understood, and clear-
ed from the scriptures, as some others, many poor weak-hearted
Christians would certainly perish, without a miracle to help them.
But the saving truths of the gospel lie plain, and run clear to all,
but those who muddy the streams with their own corrupt minds.

CHAP. III.

Some Directions for the establishing the Judgment of ProfeS'-

sot^s in the Truth.

Quest, T^T what counsel can you give me towards the esta-
• ^-^ blishing of my judgment in the truths of Christ ?
Ans, 1. First, let thy aim be sincere in embracing of truths ;
a naughty heart, and an unsound judgment, like ice and water,
are produced mutually by one another. The reason of the fickle-
ness of some men's judgments proceeds from the guile of their
hearts. A stable mind, and a double heart, seldom meet. That
place speaks full to this, 1 Tim. i. 5. The end of the command-,
me?it is love out of a pure hearty and of a good conscience, and
of faith unfeigned^ (now mark what follows) ver. €),from which
some having stperved, (or as it is in the original) not aiming
at, have turned aside to vain jangling. They never aimed at the
power of holiness in receiving truth, that by it they might ad-
vance in their love, faith, and other graces ; and taking a wrong
end and aim, no wonder they turn out of the right way. A
naughty heart can easily bribe the judgment, to vote on its side. —
This shall be truth now, and no truth a month hence, if it please.
That is truth with many, which serves their interest ; they tie
their judgment to their purse-strings, or preferments, &c. and
such men are ready (with that weather-cock in Queen Mary's
days) to sing a new song upon any change in their carnal concern-
ments. When love receives a truth, it is held fast j but if lust

after

34S Having your Loins

after any worldly interest be the cause, then it may be packed
away again, when the turn is served. Amnion was soon as sick of
Tamar, as ever he was for her. And have we not in our days
seen ^ome truths and ordinances kicked away with as much scorn
and contempt as he did her, and by those that have been suffici-
ently fond of them a few years past, but (to be feared^ never
truly in love with them.

Secondly, Attend on the ministry of the word. One great end
of its appointment, is to establish us in truth, Ephes. iv. 11. He
gave some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the Saints •
And mark, v. 14. That we henceforth be no more children tos^
sed to and fro"*, &.c. He that runs from his guide, will be soon
. out of his way. It is no small testimony that God hath given to
his faithful ministers in this present age, that few leave them, but
the leprosy of error appears soon on their forehead. And in thy
waiting on the ministry of the word, be sure thou attendest to the
doctrinal part of the sermon, as well as to the applicatory. The
former is necessary to make thee a solid Christian, as the other
is to make thee a warm Christian : Indeed, hot affections, with-
out solid knowledge, are but like fire in the pan when the piece is
not charged. The Levites, Neh. viii. 7. 8. we find, gavethe sen^
fence of the law^ and caused the people to understand it. Planting
goes before watering, and so should teaching before exhorting.
And the samemethodpeople should learn in, that we are to preach in.

Thirdly, Enslave not thy judgment to any person or party.—
There is a spiritual sureti/ship hath undone many in their judg-
ments and principles : be not bound to, or for the judgment of any.
Weigh truth, and tell gold thou mayest after thy father : Thou
must live by thy own faith, not another's. Labour to see truth
with thine own eyes, . That building stands weak, which is held
up by a prop, or some neighbour's house it leans on, rather than
any foundation of its own ; when these go, that will fall to the
ground also : Let not authority from man, but evidence from the
word, conclude thy judgment ; that is but a prop, this a founda-
tion. Quote the scripture rather than men for thy judgment. —
Not, So saith such a learned holy man ; but, Thussaith the holy
gcripture. Yet take heed of bending this direction too far the
other way ; which is done when we condemn the judgment of
such, whose piety and learning might command reverence : There
is sure a mean to be found betwixt defying men, and deifying them.
It is admiring of persons that is the traitor to truth, and makes
many cry Hosanna to error, and crucifif to truth. Eusebius,
out of Josephus, tells us of Herod (that Herod whom we read.
Acts xii. to be eaten up of worms), his coming upon the theatre
gorgeously clad, and that while he was making an eloquent ora-
tion to the people, the silver robe which he theu wore did, by the

I'cflex

Girt about with Truth, 349

reflex of the sun-beams shining on it, so glister, as dazzled the eyes
of the spectators ; and this (saith he) occasioned some flatterers
to cry out, The voice of God, and not of man. And truly the
glistering varnish which some men's parts and rhetorick put upoQ
their discourses, does oft so blind the judgments of their admir-
ers, that they are too prone to think all divine they speak ; es-
pecially if they be such, whom God hath used as instruments for
any good to the souls formerly. O 'tis hard then, to love and es-
teem man as man, to reverence such, so as not to be in danger of
loving their errors also. Augustine had been a means to convert
Alypius from one error, and he confesseth this was an occasion
why he was so easily by him led into another error, no less than
Manicheism ; Alypius thought he could not prevent him here,
that had converted him ; call, therefore, none father on earth ;
despise none, adore none.

Fourthly, Beware of curiositi/. He is half gone into error,
that vainly covets novelties, and listens after every new-fangled
opinion. We read of itching ears, 2 Tim. iv. 3. This itch
commonly ends in a scab of error. Tamar lost her chastity by
gadding ; the chastity of the mind is its soundness iu the faith :
and this they are in danger to lose, who will go into all companies,
and lend an ear to all doctrines that are preached. First, be a
hearer, and then a disciple of them. Many indulge themselves so
far in this curiosity of conversing with every sect and opinion, that
at last they turn scepticks, and can settle upon nothing as truth.
Augustine confesseth of himself, that he had gone through so
many errors and delusions of the Manichees (which he once cried
up for truths, but afterwards saw them abominable errors), that
at last he was afraid of truth itself, which he heard Ambrose
preach. As (saith he) one that hath had experience of an iin^
skilful physician^ is at last afraid to put himself in the hands of
him that is skilful. O take heed that you who will now hear any
thing, come not in the end that you will believe nothing.

Fifthly, Humbly beg of God an established judgment. No
travellers lose their way sooner, than they who think they know
it so well that they need not ask it ; and no professors are in such
danger of being drawn from the truth, as they who lean to their
own understanding, and acknowledge not God in their way, by
consulting with himself daily, Mark pride (however it may
seem to soar,) hath such a mercy in store for them, they may with
Nebuchadnezzar, bless the Most High^ and acknowledge him at
their return, whom they neglected so unworthily at their setting
forth. O take heed therefore of pride, which will soon make
thee a stranger at the throne of grace. Pride takes little delight
in begging : it turns humble praying for truth into a busy
stickling and ambitious disputing about truth j there is honour to

be

350 Having your Loins

be got here : and thus many, to get victory, have lost truth m
the heat of the battle. Lay this deep in thy heart, that God,
who gives an eye to see truth, must give a hand to hold it fast
when we have it. What we have from God, we cannot keep
without God ; keep therefore thy acquaintance with God, or else
truth will not keep her acquaintance long with thee. God is
light ; thou art going into the dark, as soon as thou turnest thy
back on Jiim. We stand at better advantage to find truth, and
keep it also, when devoutly praying for it, than when fiercely
wrangling and contending about it ; disputes toil the soul, and
raise the dust of passion ; prayer sweetly composeth the mind, and
lays the passions which disputes draw forth ; and 1 am sure a man
may see further in a still clear day, than in a windy and cloudy.
When a person talks much, and rests little, we have great cause
to fear his brain will uot hold long.; and truly, when a persoQ
shall be much in talking and disputing about truth, without an
humble spirit in prayer to be led into it, God may justly punish
that man's pride with a spiritual frenzy in his mind, that he shall
not know error from truth.

Sixthly, Look thou takest not offence at the difference of judg-
ments and opinions that are found among the professors of religion.
It is a stone which the papist throws (in these divided times es-
pecially) before our feet. How know you, saith he, which is
truth, when there are so many judgments and ways amongst you ?
Some have so stumbled at this, that they have quit the truth they
once professed, and by the storm of dissensions in matters of reli-
gion, have been, if not thrown upon the rock of atheism, yet
driven to and fro' in a fluctuation of mind, not willing to cast an-
chor anywhere in their judgment, till they see this tempest over,
and those that are scattered from one another by diversity of
judgment, meet together in an unity, and joint consent of persua-
sions in matters of religion : A resolution, as one saith very well,
as foolish and pernicious to the soul, if not more, than it would be
to the body, if a man should vow he should not eat till all the
clocks in the city should strike twelve just together ; the latter
might sooner be expected than the former.

Seventhly, Rest not till thou feelest the efficacy of every truth
thou boldest in thy judgment, upon thy heart ; one faculty helps
another. 'J'he more clear truth is in the understanding, the more
abiding in the memory ; and the more operative truth is on the
will, the more fixed in the judgment. Let a thing be ever so ex-
cellent, yet if a man can make little or no use thereof, it is little
worth to him, and may easily be got from him. Thus many rare
libraries have been parted with by rude soldiers (into whose hands
they have fallen) for little more than their covers were worth,
which would by some (that could have iisproved them) been kept

as

Girt about uilh Truth . 351

as the highest prize. And verily, it fares with truth, according
As they are in whose hands it falls : if it lights upon one that falls
to work with it, and draws out the strength and sweetness of it,
this man holds it so much faster in his judgment, by how much
more operative it is on his heart : but if it meets with one that
finds no divine efficacy it hath, to humble, comfort, sanctify him,
it may soon be turned out of doors, and put to seek for a new
host ; such may for a time dance about that light, which a while
after themselves will blow out. When I hear of a man, that once
held original sin, and the universal pollution of man's nature, to
be a truth, but now denies it, 1 cannot but fear, he did either
never lay it so close to his heart, as to abase and humble him kindly
for it ; or that he grew weary of the work, and by sloth and negli-
gence lost the efficacy of that truth in his heart, before he lost the
truth itself in his judgment. I might instance in many other par-
ticulars, wherein professors in these slippery times have slid from
their old principles. Singing of psalms hath been a duty owned
and practised by many, who now have laid it down ; and it were
a question worth asking of them, whether formerly they never
enjoyed sweet communion with God in that duty as well as others ?
Whether their hearts did never dance and leap up to God with
heavenly affections, while they sang with their lips? And verily
I should think it strange to hear a godly person deny this. Well
if ever thou didst. Christian, meet with God at this door of the
Tabernacle (for I cannot yet think it otherwise), let me ask again
whether thy heart did not grow common, cold, and formal in the
duty, before thou durst cast it off? (1 John ii, 23, 24). And
if so (which I am very ready to believe), I desire such in the fear
of God to consider these four questions :

First, Whether they may not fear that they are in an error •
and that this darkness is befallen their judgments, as a punish*
ment for their negligence and slightness of spirit in performing
the duty when they did not question the lawfulness of it ?

Secondly, W^hether it were not better they laboured to recover
the first liveliness of their affections in the duty (which would
soon bring them again acquainted with that sweetness and joy
they of old fouud in it), than to cast it off, upon so weak anevi-
dence as they, who can say most, bring in against it ?

Thirdly, Whether such as neglect one duty, are likely to
thrive by any other, and keep up the savour of them fresh in their
souls ?

Fourthly, Whether, if God should suffer them to decline in
their affections to any other ordinance (which may he forbid if it
be his will), it were not easy for satan to gather together argu-
ments enough to make them scruple, and in time cast off, that as
well as this? And there is reason for such a question, these times

• will

352 Having i^our Loins

will tell us ; wherein every ordinance hath had its turn to be quco-
tioned, yea, disowned, some by one, some by another ; one will
not sing ; another will not have his child baptized ; a third will
not have any water baptism, nor supper neither ; a fourth bungs
lip his ear too from all hearing of the word, and would have us ex-
pect an immediate teaching. Thus when once ordinances and
truths become dead to us through our miscarriage under them, we
can be willing (how beautiful soever they were once in our eye),
yea, call to have them buried out of our sight. These things,
sadly laid to heart, will give you reason to think, though this di-
rection be placed last in order of my discourse, yet it should not
find either the last or the least place (among all the other named)
in your Christian care and practice.

4>%%»»%%'»%iw»%^v»^-%%'»%'%v>-wv%v»%'v

CHAP. IV.

W/ierein is contained the second Waij of having our Loins girt
with Truth, viz. so as to make a free and bold Profession of
it ; and tvhy this is our Duit/ ; and a short Exhortation to it,

'T^HE second way that truth is assaulted is by force and violence ;
-* the devil pierceth the fox's skin of seducers with the lion's
skin of persecutors. The bloodiest tragedies in the world have
been acted on the stage of the Church ; and the most inhuman
massacres and butcheries committed on the harmless sheep of
Christ. The first man that was slain in the world was a saint,
and he for religion. And, as Luther said, Cain will kill Abel
unto the end of the world. The fire of persecution can never go
out quite, so long as there remains a spark of hatred in the wick-
ed's bosom on earth, or a devil in hell to blow it up. Therefore
there is a second way of having truth girt about the Christian's
loins, as necessary as the other ; and that is, in the profession of
it. Many that could never be beaten from the truth by dint of
argument, have been forced from it by the fire of persecution. —
'Tis not an orthodox judgment will enable a man to suffer for the
truth at the stake. Then that poor smith, in our English Mar-
tyrology, would not have sent such a dastard-like answer to his
friend, ready to suffer for that truth which be himself had been a
means to instruct him in. That indeed it was the truth, but he
could not burn. Truth in^the head, without holy courage, makes
a man like the sword-fish ; which, Plutarch saith, hath a sword
in the head, but no heart to use it. Then a person becomes un-
conquerable, when from heaven he is endued with a holy boldness,
to draw forth the sword of the spirit, and own the naked truth,

bv

Girt about with Truth, 353

by a free profession of it in the face of death and danger. This,
this is to have our loins girt about with truth. So that the note
from this second kind of girding with truth, is,

Doct, That it is tlie saints' duty, and should be their care, not
only to get an established judgment in the truth, but also to main-
tain a stedfast profession of the truth. This the apostle presseth,
Ileb. X. 23. Let us holdfast the profession of our faith wii/wuf
7vavering, He speaks it in opposition to those who, in those
hazardous times, declined the assemblies of the saints, for fear of
persecotion ; he calls it a wavering ; and he that staggers is next
door to apostacy. We must uyt spread our sails of profession in
a calm, and furl them up when the- wind riseth. Pergaraus is
commended, liev. ii. 13, for her bold profession : I know thy
twrks^ and where i/wif dwelled^ even where satan hath his throne ;
and thou lioldest fi>t f//// naine^ and hast not denied my faith ^
ev^n in those dajjs wherein Ant ipas was my faithful martyr^ who
was slain among you, Jt was a place where satan sat in the ma-
gistrate\s seat, whei-e it was oiatter enough to deserve death to be
a Christian ; yea, some blood now was shed before their eyes, and
even in those days they denied not the truth. This God took
kindly. 'Tis a strict charge Paul gives Timothy, 1 Epist. vi.
11. But thou^ O man of Gody flee these things, and follow af^
ter righteousness^ &c. ; while others arc prowling for the world,
lay about thee for spiritual riches, pursue this with as hot a chace
as they ^o their temporal. But what if this trade cannot be peace-
ably driven ? must shop-windows then be shut up, profession laid
aside, and he stay to be religious till more favourable times come
about? No such matter: ver. 12. he bids him fight the good
fight of faith i do not basely quit thy profession, but lay life and
all to stake to keep this. And that he might engage him beyond
a retreat, see ver. 13. I charge thee^ in the sight of God^ who
quickemth all things ; and Jesus Christ, who, before Pontius
JPilate^ witnessed a good confession^ that thou keep this com-
mandment : As if he had said. If ever you will see the face of
Christ with comfort at the resurrection (who chose to lose his
life, rather than deny or dissemble the truth), stand to it, and
flinch not from your colours. Augustine, in his Confes. lib. 8,
cap. 2. hath a notable story of one Victorinus, famous in Rome
for rhetoric, which he taught the senators. 'J'his man in his old
age was converted to Christianity, and came toSimplicianus (one
eminent at that time for his piety), whispering in his ears softly
these words, I am a Christian, But this holy man answered,
I will not believe it, nor count thee so, till I see thee among the
Christians of the church : at which he laughed, saying, Do these
walls make a Christian ? Cannot I be such, except I openly pro-
fess it, and let the world know the same ? This he said for fear,

beinir

354 Having your Loins

being yet but a young convert, though an old man ; but a while
after (when he was more confirmed in the faith, and seriously
considered, that if he should continue thus ashamed of Christ, he
would be ashamed of him, when he cometh in the glory of his fa-
ther with the holy angels) he changed his note, and came to Sim-
plicianus, saying. Let us go to the Churchy I wilt now in ear--
nest be a Christian ,• and there, though a private profession of
his faith might have been accepted, chose to do it openly, saying.
That he had openly professed rhetoric, which was not a matter of
salvation, and should be afraid to own the word of Godwin the
congregation of the faithful ? God requires both the religion of
the heart and mouth, Rom. x. 10. With the heart manbelieveth
unto righteousness^ and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. Confession of the mouth, without faith in the heart, is
gross hypocrisy ; to pretend faith without profession of the mouth,
is both hypocrisy and cowardice.

Beas, I shall give but one reason of the point, and that is ta-
ken from the great trust which God puts in his saints concerning
his truth ? this is the great depositu?u which God delivers to his
saints, with a strict and solemn charge to keep against all that
undermine or oppose it. Some things we trust God with, some
things God trusts us with. The great thing we put into God's
hand to be kept for us, is our soul, 2 Tim. i. 12. He is able to
keep that ivhich I have committed unto him against that day. —
That which God trusts us chiefly with, is his truth. It is there-
fore said to be delivered to them, as a charge of money to a friend
whom we confide in, Jude iii. Contend for the faith which was
once delivered to the saints. To them (saith the apostle, speak-
ing of the Jews) ^vere committed the oracles of God. They
were concredited with that heavenly treasure. So Paul exhorts
Timothy, Eph. i. 1. Tb hold fast the form of sound words ,•
and this, ver. 14. he calls the good thing which was committed
4o him. If he that is intrusted with the keeping of a king's
crown and jewels, ought to look carefully to his charge, that none
be lost or stolen j much more the Christian that hath in his charge
God's crown and treasure. Rob God of his truth, and what
hath he left ? The word of truth is that testimony which the great
God gives of himself to man. The saints are his chosen witnesses
above others, whom he calls forth to vouch his truth, by a free and
holy profession thereof before men (called therefore the witnesses
of God, Psal. xix. 7. Isa. viii. 20. Heb. xii. 1. Rev. xi. 3.) He
that maintains any error from the word, bear false witness against
God. He that for fear or shame deserts the truth, or dissembles
his profession, he denies God his testimony ; and who can express
what a bloody sin this is, and to what a high contempt of God it
amounts ! It were a horrid crime, though but in a man's case —

As

Girt about with Tfuth. 355

As when one is falsely accused in a court, to speak something
that might clear the innocence of the man, and yet should suffer
him to be condemned, rather than hazard himself a little by
speaking the truth in open court. O, what then is his sin, that
when God himself, in his truth, stands at sorry man's bar, dares
not speak for God when called in to declare himself; but lets
truth suffer by an unjust sentence, that himself may not at man*s
hands for bearing witness to it ?

Object, But this may seem too heavy a burden to lay on the
Christian's back,'^ must we lay all at stake, and hazard all that is
dear to us, rather than deny, or dissemble our profession of the
truth ? Sure Christ will have but> few followers, if he holds his
servants to such hard terms.

Answ, Indeed it is hard to flesh and blood ; one of the highest
stiles to be gone over in our way to heaven j a carnal heart can-
not hear this, but he is offended presently. Matt. xiii. 21. There-
fore such as are loth to lose heaven, and yet unwilling to venture
thus much for it, have set their wits at work to find out an easier
way thither. Itence those hereticks of old, Priscillianists, and
others (whose chief religion was to save their own skin) made
little of outward profession. They thought they might say, and
unsay ; swear, and forswear (according to their wretched princi-
ple, Juro^ perjuro^ mentem injuratam gero)^ so in their heart
they did but cleave to the truth. O what fools were the prophets,
apostles, and other holy martyrs, that have sealed the truth with
their blood, if there might have been such a fair way of escaping
the storm of persecution ? Bold men, that to save a little trouble
from man, for truth's sake, durst invent such detestable blasphe-
mies against the truth ; yea, deface those characters which na-
ture itself engraves upon the conscience. The same window that
let in the light of a Deity, would with it let in this also, that we
should walk in the name of this God ; the very heathen know
this. All people will walk, every one in the name of his God^
Micah iv. Socrates to blood held there was but one God ; and
in his apology for his life, said. If they would give him his life^
mi condition to keep this ti uth to himself^ and not to teach it to
others, he would not accept it : Behold here the powerful work-
ings of a natural conscience I Have not they then improved the
knowledge of the scripture well, in the mean time, that are so far
outshot from nature's weak bow ? Religion would soon vanish in-
to an empty nothing, if for fear of every one we meet, we must
(like run-away soldiers) pluck off our colours, and put our pro-
fession as it were in our pockets, lest we should be known to
whom we belong. What doth God require by a free profession
of his truth, more than a master doth of his servant, when he bids
him take his livery, and follow him in the streets? Or when a

z prince

356 Having your Loins

prince calls his subjects into the field, to declare their loyalty, by
owning his quarrel against an invading enemy ? And is it reason-
able, what man requires of these, and only heard froni God's
hands ? Nay, it is not more, not so much as we desii^e of God
for ourselves. Who would not have God make profession of his
love to us, and bear witness for us against satan, and our ovVn
sins, at that great day, when meu and angels shall be spectators ?
And shall we expect that from God, which he owes us by no law,
but of his own free promise, and deny him that which we are un-
der so many bonds to pay ? If it be but la some affliction (while
we are here), how disconsolate are we, if God's face be a little
overcast, and he doth not own us in our distress? And is
there no kindness to be shewn to that God that knows your soul
in adversity ? When his truth is in an agony, may not Christ look,
that all his friends should sit up and watch with it ? O ! it were
shame, with a witness, that any such effeminate delicacy should be
found among Christ's servants, that they cannot break a little of
their worldly rest and enjoyments, to attend on him and his
truth.

Use* Xiet this stir us up to get the girdle of truth close girt to
us, that we may be able to hold fast the profession of it, even in
the face of death and danger, and not to be offended when perse-
cution ariseth. Blessed be God, 'tis not yet come to that, ivt
have the truth at a cheaper rate ; but how soon the market may
rise, we know not. Truth is not alvvaj^s to be had at the same
price. Buy it we must at any, but sell it upon no terms. And
let me tell you, there hath, is, and will be a spirit of persecution .
in the hearts of the wicked, to the end of the world j and as satan
was considering Job, before he laid his foul hands on him, so now
persecution is working in the spirits of the ungodly ; there are
engines of death continually preparing in the thoughts and desires
of satan and his instrurtients, against the sincere professors of the
truth ; 'tis already resolved upon what they would do, might
power be given, and opportunity to put their malice in execu-
tion ; yea, we are half way already towards a persecution. Sa-
tan comes first with a spirit of error, and then enrageth their
hearts with wrath against the professors of truth. It is impossi-
ble, that error, being a brat of hell, should be peaceable ; it]
would not then be like its father. That which is from beneath, ]
can neither be pure nor peaceable. And how far God hath suf-',
fered this sulphurous spirit of erroi' to prevail, is so notorious, that!
no apology is broad enough to cover the nakedness of these un-
happy times. It is therefore high time to have our girdle of
truth on, yea, close girt about us in the profession of it. Not
every one tbat applauds truth will follow it, when once it comes
to shew them the way to prison ; nor every one that preacheth

foK.

Girt about with Truth » 357

for it, or disputes for it, will suffer for it. Arguments are liarm-
less things, blunt weapons ; they fetch no blood ; but when we
suffer, then we are called to try it with truth's enemies at sharps.
This requires something more than a nimble tongue, a sharp wit,
and a logical head : Where then will be the wise, the disputer, the
man of parts and gifts ? Alas, they will (like cowardly soldiers)
be wanting in the fight, though they could be as forward as the
best at a muster, or training, when no enemy was in the field j
when to appear for truth, was rather a matter of gain or applause,
than loss and hazard. No, God hath chosen the foolish to con-
found the wise in this piece of service ; the humble Christian, by
his faith, patience, and love to the truth, to shame men of high
parts, and no grace.

CHAP. V.

A Direction or two for the girding of Truth close to its in the

Profession of it.

Quest, X>UT how may a soul get to be thus girt with truth in
"*-' the profession of it.
Ans. First, labour to get an heart inflamed with a sincere love
to the truth : this only is able to match the enemies of truth. —
The woi-st they can do is bonds or death, and love is stronger
than death ; it kills the very heart of death itself; it makes all
things easy. Commandments are not grievous to love, nor doth
it complain of sufferings. With what a light heart did Jacob, for
the love of Rachel, endure the heat of the day, and cold of the
night ? ^Tis venturous: Jonathan threw a kingdom at his heels,
and conflicted with the anger of an enraged father, for David's
sake ; love never thinks itself a loser, so long as it keeps its be-
loved ; yea, it is ambitious of any hazardous enterprize, whereby
it may sacrifice itself in the service of its beloved, as we see in
David, who put his life in his hands for Michael. How much
njore than all these, when our love is pitched upon so transcend-
ent an object as Christ and his truth ! Alas, they are but faint
spirits which are breathed from a creature, weak beams that are
shot from such sorry beauties ! If these lay their lovers under such
a law, that they cannot but obey, though with the greatest peril
and hazard, what constraint then must a soul ravished with the
love of •Christ be under? This has made the saints leap out of
their estates, relations, yea out of their bodies, with joy, count-
ing it not their loss to part with them, but to keep them with the
least prejudice to the truth. It is said, Rev. xii, 11. The^f

z 2 loved

358 Having ifour Loins

loved not their lives unto the death. Mark, not to the loss o^
some of the comforts of their lives, but to death ; life itself they
counted an enemy, when it would part them and truth ; as
a man doth not love his arm or leg, when it hazards the rest, but
bids cut it off. Cannot we live (say these noble spirits) but to
the clouding of truth, and calling our love to it and Christ into
question ? Welcome then the worst of deaths. This kept up
David's courage when his life was laid wait for, Psal. cxix. 95.
The wicked have waited for me to destroy me, but I will consider
thy testimonies, A carnal heart would have considered his estate,
wife and children, or at least his life now in danger ; but David's
heart was on a better subject : he considered the testimonies of
God, and so much sweetness pours in upon his soul, while he is
rowling them in his meditation, that he cannot hold. O how I
love thy law, ver. 97. This made him set light by all the trou-
bles he met with for his cleaving to the truth. It is a great mys-
tery to the world, that men for an opinion (as they call it) should
run such desperate hazard. Therefore Paul was thought by his
judge to be out of his wits. And that question which Pilate ask-
ed Christ, seems to be rather slightingly than seriously spoken,
John xvii. Our saviour had told him, ver. 27, that the end
why he was born, and came into the world, was, that he should
hear witness to the truth. Then Pilate, ver. 38. asks Christ,
What is truth 9 and presently flings away, as if he had said. Is
this now a time to think of truth, when thy life is in danger ?
"What is truth, that thou shouldst venture so much for it ? But a
gracious soul may better ask, in a holy scorn. What are riches and
honours ? What the fading pleasures of this cheating world ? Yea,
what is life itself, that any, or all these, should be set in opposi-
tion to truth ? O, sirs, look what has your love, that will com-
mand purse, credit, life, and all. Every man goes where his
love carries him. If the world has your love, on it you will spend
your lives ; if truth has your hearts, you will catch the blow that
is made at it in your own bressts, rather than let it fall on it.— ^
Only be careful that your love to truth be sincere, or else it will
leave you at the prison door, and make you part with truth, when
you should most appear for it. There are three sorts of pretend-
ers to truth, whose love is not like to endure the fiery trial.

Pirst, Such as embrace truth for carnal advantage. Some-
times truth pays well for her board in the world's own coin, and
so long every one will invite her to his house. These do not love
truth, but the jewel at her ear. Many were observed, in Henry
VIII.'s time, to be very zealous against abbeys, that loved their
lands more than they hated their idolatry. Truth finds few that
love her gratis^ and those few will only suffer with truth, and for
it ; as for the other, when the worldly dowry that truth brought

is

Gtfi ahoiit with Truth. 359

is once spent, you will find they are weary of their match. This
kitchen fire burns no longer than such gross fuel of profit, credit,
and the like, does feed it. If you cannot love naked truth, you
will not bear to go naked for truth. If you cannot love disgraced
truth, you will not endure to be disgraced for truth j and what
usage truth finds, that her followers must expect.

Secondly, Those who commend truth, and cry it up highly ;
but if you mark them, they do but compliment with it ; all this
while they keep at a distance, and do not suffer truth to come
within them, so as to give law unto them 5 like one that entertains
a suitor, speaks well of him, holds discourse with him, but will
not hear of marrying him. Bucholcerus would oft say, Many
kiss Christy but few love him. True love to Christ is conjugal ;
when a soul delivers up itself from an inward liking it hath to
Christ, as to her husband, to be ruled by his spirit, and ordered
by his word of truth, here is a soul loves Christ and his truth ;
but where truth has no command, and bears no rule, there dwells
no love to truth in that heart. She that is not obedient, cannot
be a loving wife, because love would constrain her to be so, and
so would love in the soul enforce obedience to the truth it loves.
Nay, he that doth not obey truth, is so far from loving it, that
he is afraid of truth ; and he that is slavishly afraid of truth, wiU
sooner prove a persecutor of truth, than a sufferer for truth. So
true is that of Hierome, Whom we fear, we hate ; whom we hate,
we wish they were destroyed. Saul feared David, and that made
him industriously seek his ruin. Herod feared John, and that
cost him his life ; slavish fear makes the naughty heart im-
prison truth in his conscience, because if that had its liberty
and authority in the soul, it would imprison, yea, execute every
lust that now rules the roast ; and he that imprisons truth ia
his own bosom, will hardly lie in prison himself as a witness for
truth.

Thirdly, Such as have no zeal against truth's enemies. Love
goes ever armed with zeal ; this is the dagger she draws against
all the opposers of truth. He that is not zealous, doth not love.
Now right zeal acts (like fire) to its utmost power, yet ever
keeping its place and sphere. If it be confined to the breast of
a private Christian, whence it may not flame forth in punishing
truth's enemies, then it burns inwardly the more, for being pent
up, and preys (like a fire in his bones) upon the Christian's owa
spirits, consuming them, yea, eating him up for grief, to see truth
trod under foot of error or prophaneness, and he not able to help
it up. 'Tis no joy to a zealous lover to outlive his bride : such
there have been, who could have chose rather to have leaped in-
to their friend's grave, and laid down with them in the dust,
thaa here pass a disconsolate life without them. Zict us go and

z 3, die

3S0 Having t/out Loim

die with him^ said Thomas, when Christ told them that Lazarus
was dead ; and I am sure zealous lovers of truth count it as me-
lancholy living in evil times, when that is fallen in the streets.—
The news of the taking of the ark frighted good Eli's soul out of
his body; and this may charitably be thought to have given life
to Elijah's wish, yea, solemn prayer for death, 1 Kings xix. 4.
It is enough^ take away my life. The holy man saw how things
went among the great ones of those wicked times : idolators then
.were courted, and the faithful servants of God carted (as I may
so say), yea, killed ; and now this zealous prophet thinks it a
good time to leave the world in, rather than live in torment any
longer, to see the name, truth, and servants of God trampled on,
by those who should have shewn most kindness to them. But if
zeal hath any power put into her hands, wherein she may vindi-
cate truth's cause (as when she is exalted into the magistrate's
seat), then the enemies of truth shall know and feel, that she
hears not the sword in vain. The zealous magistrate will have,
as an arm to relieve and defend truth, the Israelite ; so . a hand
to smite blasphemy, error, and prophaneness, the Egyptian, when
any one of them assault her. O how Moses laid about him (that
meek man, who stood so mute in his own cause, Numb, xii.)
when the people had committed idolatry ! His heart was. so in-
fired within him, that (well as he loved them) h^could neither
open his mouth in a prayer for them to God, nor his ear to re-
ceive any petition from them, till he had given vent to his zeal
in an act ofjuatioe upon the offenders. Now, such, and such on-
ly, are the persous that are likely (when called) to suffer for the
truth, who will not let it suffer, if they can help it. But as for
natural Gallio-like spirits, that c^i see truth and error scuffling,
and not do their utmost to relieve truth, by interposing their
power and authorityi if a magistrate ; by preaching tlie one up,
and the other down, if a minister; and by a free testimony to,
fervent prayer, for, and affectionate sympathizing with truth, (as
it fares ill or well,) if a private Christian : I say, as for such,
who stand in this case as some spectators about two wrestlers,
not caring much who hath the fall ; these are not the men that
can be expected to expose themselves to much suffering for truth.
That magistrate, who hath not zeal enough to stop the mouths of
truth's enemies when he may, will he open his mouth in a free
profession of it when death and danger face him ? That minister,
who hath neither love nor courage enough to apologize for truth
in the pulpit^ can it be thought he would staud to her defence at
a stake 9 In a word, that private Christian^ whose heart is not
wcmndcd through truth's sides, so as to sympathize with it, will
he interpose himself betwixt truth and the blow that bloody per-
s^utors aim at it, and choose to receive it into his own bod\s

though

Girt ahoiii toith Truth. 361

though to death, rather than it should light ou truth ? If the fire
of love withia be out, or so little that it will not melt the raaa
into sorrow for the wrongs done to truth by naen of corrupt minds,
where will the flame be found, that should enable him to burn to
^hes, under the hand of bloody naen ? He will never endure the
fire in his body, that hath no more care to keep that sacred fire
burning in his soul; if he ca^pot shpd tears^ ipuch less will he
bleed for truth.

Quest, If any now should ask, how they may get their hearts,
^iflamed with this heavenly fire of love to truth ? I answer, first,
. 4^9^ !• l»abour for an inward conformity of thy heart to
fcjfuth. Likeness is the ground of love. A carnal heart cannot
like truth, because it is not like to truth. Such a one may love
truth, as he did Alexander, the king, not the person that was
king. Truth in its honour and dignity, wheo it pau prefer him,
but not nailed truth itself. How is \i possible,. an earthly soul
should lov^ truth, that is heavenly ? An unholy heart, truth tjiat
is pure? O 'tis sad indeed, when men's tenets and principles in
th^ir understandings do clash, and fight with the principles of
their )ieai*ts and affectiops ; when men have orthodox judgments,
aqd heterodox hearts ! There must needs be little love to truth,
because the judgment and will are so unequally yoked ; tiuth in
the conscience reproving and threatening lust in the heart, and
that again controulling truth in the conscience. Thus, like a
scolding couple, they may a while dwell together, but taking no
cqnteut in one another, the wretch is easily persuaded to give
truth a bill of divorce at last, and send her away (as Ahasuerus
did Vashti), that he may espouse other principles, which will suit
better with his corrupt heart, and not cross him in the way he is
in. This, this I am persuaded ha|;h parted many and truth in
these licentious days. They could not sin peaceably while they
kept their judgments sound ; truth ever and anon would be cliid-
iug tliem, and therefore to match their judgments with their
hearts, they have taken up principles suitable to their lusts. —
But, soul, if truth had such a power upon thee, to transform thee
by the renewing of thy mind into its own likeness ; that as the
graft turns the stock into its own nature, so truth hath assimilated
thee, ^nd made thee bear fruit like itself; thou art the person
that wilt never part with truth ; before thou canst do this, thou
must part with that new nature, which by it the Spirit of God
hath begot in thee. There is now such a near union betwixt
thee and truth, or rather thee and Christ, as can never be broken.
We see what a mighty power there goes along with God's ordi-
nance of marriage, tliat two persons, who possibly a month be-
fore never knew one another ; yet jLheif affections once knit by
love, and their persons made one by marriage, they can now leave

z 4 friends

5fe Having ijour Loins

friends and parents for to enjoy each other ; such a mighty power,
and much greater, goes along with this mystical marriage be-
tween the soul and Christ, the soul and truth ; that the same per-
son, who, before conversion, would not have ventured the loss of
a penny for Christ, or his truth ; yet, now knit to Christ and his
truth, by a secret work of the spirit, apevy forming him into the
likeness thereof, he can bid adieu to the world, life, and all, for
these. As that martyr told him, that asked whether he did not
love his wife and children, and was not loth to part with them ?
Yes^ saith he, I love them so dearly, that I would not part with
any of them for all that the Duke of Brunswick is worth (whose
subject he was) ; hut fir ChrisVs sake and his truths farewell
to them all.

Secondly, Labour to get thy heart more and more infired with
the love of God, and this will work in thee a dear love to his
truth ; Love observes what is precious and dear to its beloved,
and loves it for his sake. Da\rid's love to Jonathan made him
inquire for some of his race that he might shew kindness to them
for his sake. Love to God will make the soul inquisitive to find
out what is near and dear to God, that by shewing kindness to
it, he may express his love to him. Nqw, upon a little search,
"we shall find that the great God sets a very high price upon the
Lead of truth, Psal. cxxxviii. 2. Thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name. That is God's name by which he is known,
every creature hath God's name upon it ; by it God is known,
even to the least pile of grass ; but to his word and truth therein
written, he hath given pre-eminence above all other things that
bear his name. Take a few considerations whereby we may a
little conceive of the high value God sets on truth. First, God
when he vouchsafeth his word and truth to a people, makes ac-
count he gives them one of the greatest mercies they can receive,
or he give ; he calls them the great things of his law, Hos. viii.
12. A people that enjoy his truth, they are by Christ's own
judgment lift up to heaven ; whatever a people have at God's
hands without this, bears no more comparison with it, than Ha-
gar's loaf of bread and bottle (which was Ishmael's portion) would
with Isaac's inheritance. God that knows how to prize and rate
his own gifts, saith of his word, which he shewed to Jacobs and
testimonies that he gives to Israel^ that he hath not dealt so with
any nation^ Psal. clxvii. 20. That is, not so richly and graci-
ously. Secondly, consider God's especial care to preserve his
truth; whatever is lost, God looks to his truth. In shipwrecks
at sea, and fires at land, when men can save but little, thej'^ use
aot to choose lumber, and things of no worth, but what they
esteem most precious. In all the great revolutions, changes, and
overturning of kingdoms, and churches also, God hath still pre-
served

J

Girt about with Truth, 363

served his truth. Thousands of saints lives have been takca
away, but that which the devil spights more than all the saints ;
yea, which alone he spights them for, (that is the truth), this
lives, and shall, to triumph over his malice ; and sure if truth
ivere not very dear to God, he would not be at this cost to keep
it with the blood of his saints ; yea, which is more, the blood of
his Son ; whose errand into the world was by life and death to
bear witness to the tt^h^ John xviii. 37. In a word, in that
great and dismal conflagration of heaven and earth, when the
elements shall melt for heat, and the world come to its fatal pe-
riod, then truth shall not suffer the least loss, but the word of
tJie Lord endureth for ever, 1 Pet. i. 25. Thirdly, Consider
the severity of God to the enemies of truth. A dreadful curse is
denounced against those that shall take away from it, or add the
least to it, that embase or clip this heavenly coin. Rev. xxii. 18.
All these speak at what a high rate God values truth ; and no
wonder, if we consider what truth is (that truth which shines
forth from the written word) : It is the extract of God's thoughts
and counsels which from everlasting he took up, and had in his
heart to effect. Nothing comes to pass but as an accomplishment
of this his word ; it is the most full and perfect representation that
God himself could give of his own being and nature to the sons of
men ; that by it we may know him, and love him. Great princes
use to send their pictures by their ambassadors, to those whom
they woo for marriage. God is such an infinite perfection, that
no hand can draw him to the life but his own, and this he hath
done exactly in his word, from which all his saints have come to
be enamoured with him. As we deal with truth, so we do with
God himself; he that despiseth that, despiseth him. He that
abandons the truth of God, renounceth the God of truth. Tho'
men cannot come to pull God out of his throne, and deprive him
of his Godhead, yet they come as near this as it is possible, wheu
they let out their wrath against the truth ; in this the)^ do, as it
were, execute God in effigy. There is reason, we see, why God
should so highly prize his truth, and that we that love him should
cleave to it.

Thirdly, Be much in the meditation of the transcendent ex-
cellency of truth : The eye affects the heart ; this is the window
at which love enters. Never any that had a spiritual eye to see
truth in her native beauty, but had a heart to love her. This
was the way that David's heart was ravished with the love of the
word of truth, Psal. cxix. 96. O how I love thy law, it is my me-
ditation all the day ; while his thoughts were on it, his love was
drawn to it. David found a great difference betwixt meditating
on the truths of God's word, and other excellencies which the
world cries up so highly: When he goes to entertain himself

with

364? Having your Loins

with the thoughts of some perfection in the creature, he finds it
but a jejune* dry subject, compared with this ; he soon tumbles
over the book of the world's excellencies, and can find no i^otipu
that deserves any long stay upon it ; I have seei:i^ ssdth he, an
end of all perfection ; he is at the world's end presently, aivl in
a few thoughts can see to the bottom of all the world's glory :
But when he takes up the truths of God into his thoughts, now
he finds work enough for his admiration, and sweet meditation ;
thy cojnmahidments are exceeding broad; great ships cannot sail
in narrow rivers, and shallow waters ; neither can minds, truly
great with the knowledge of God and heaven, find room enough
in the creature to turn, and expatiate themselves in. A gracious
soul is soon a-ground, and at a stand, when upon these flats ; but
let it launch out into the meditation of God, his word, the myste-
rious truths of the gospel, and he finds a place of broad waters,
sea-room enough to lose himself in. I might here shew you the
excellency of divine truths from many heads, as from the source
and spring-head whence they flow, the God of truth ; from theiv
opposite, that mis-shapen monster, error^ &.c. -, but I shall only
direct your 'meditation to a few enamouring properties which
you will find in these truths. You may meet a heap of tberji
together in Psal. xix. 7. and so on. Truths it is pme ; this made
David love it, Psal. cxix. 140. It is not only pure, but makes
the soul pure aiid holy that embraeeth it. Sanctify thevi through
thy truths thy word is truths John xvii. 17, It is the pure water
that God washeth foul souls with, Ezek. jj^xxvi. 25. / will
sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall he chan ,• from tkll
your fiUhiness will I vleanse you ; foul puddle water will as SQoa
make the face, as error make the soul clean. Truth is sure, an4
hath a firm bottom, Psal. xix. 7. We may lay the whole weight
of our souls upon it, and yet not crack under us ; cleave to truth,
and it will stick tx) thee. It will go with thee to prison, banish-
ment, yea, stake itself, and bear thy charges wherever thou goest
upon her errand. Not one thing, saith Joshua, hath failed of all
the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you ;
all are come to pass unto you, not one thing hath failed thereof^
Joshua xxiv. 14. Whatever you find there promised, count it
money in your purse. Fourscore years^ saith Polycarp, I have
served God, and found him a good Master. But when men
think, by forsaking the truth, to provide well for themselves,
they are sure to meet with disappointments. Many have been
flattered from truth with goodly promises, and then served no
better than Judas was by the Jews, after he had betrayed his
Master into their bloody liands. See thou to that. Though per-
secutors love the treason, yet they hate the traitor ; yea, oft (to
slieiv their devilish malice) they, when some have been got to

wound

Girt about ivith Tmth, 365

wound their coascience by denying the truth, have most cruelly
butchered them, aod gloried in it, as a full revenge to destroy
soul and body together. Agaiuy truth is free, and makes the
90u\ free thj^t cleaves to it, John viii. 32. T/te truth shail make
you free. Christ tells the Jews of a bondage they were in (which
that vain people never dreamed on), ver. 44, Ye are of your fa-^
thtr, the devil^ and his lusts ye will do : Such slaves are all sin^
nqrs, they must do what the devil will have them, and dare nP
more displease him, than a child his father with a rod in his hand*
Some witches have confessed, that they have been forced to send
out their imps to do mischief to others, that they might have ease
themselves ; for till they did send them abroad upon such an er-
rand, they wei-e themselves tormented by them. And he who
^ath a lust sucking on him, hnds as little rest, if he be not aU
ways serving it, and making provision for it : Can the world,
think you, shew such another slave as this poor wretch is ? Well,
though all the bolts that the devil hath (lusts I mean) were locked
npon one sinner, and he shut up in the closest dungeon of all hi»
prison, yet let but this poor slave begin to be acquainted with
the truth of Christ, so as to open his heart to it, and close with
it, you will soon hear that the foundations of the prison are
shaken, its doors thrown open, and the chains fallen off the poor
creature's legs. Truth cannot itself be bound, nor will it dwell
in a soul that lies bound in sin's prison ; and therefore when one
truth and the soul are agreed, or rather Christ and the soul, who
are brought together by truth, then the poor creature may lift up
his head with joy, for his redemption and jail-delivery from his
spiritual bondage draws nigh ; yea, the day is come, the key is in
the lock already to let him out. It is impossible we should be
acqi^ainted with truth (as it is in Jesus), and be mere strangers to-
this liberty that attends it, l^phes. iv. 19, 20, 21. In a word.
Lastly, Truth is victorious, It is great, and shall prevail at last.
It is the gi^at counsel of God ; and though many fine plot*
and devices are found in the hearts of men (which shew
what they would do), yet the counsel of the Lord shall stand ; all
their eggs are barren when they have sat longest on them ; alas^
they want power to hatch what their malice sits brooding on.-^
Sometimes, I confess, the enemies to truth get the militia of this
lower world iuto their hands, and then truth seems to go to the
ground, and those that witness to it are even slain ; yet then it
is more than their ^persecutors can do, to get them laid under
ground in their grave, Rev. xi. 9. Some, that were never thought
on, shall strike in on truth's side, and forbid the burial. Perse-
cutors need not be at cost for marble to write the memorial of
their victories on, dust will serve well enough, foi* they are not
like to last so long. Thiee days and a hatf the witnesses mav

lie

36S Having your Loins

lie dead in the streets, and truth sit disconsolate by them ; but

within a while they are walking, and truth triumphing again. If

persecutors could kill their successors, then their work might be

thought to stand strong, needing not to fear another to pull down

what they have set up ; iand yet then their work would lie as

open to heaven, and might be as easily hindered, as their's at

JBabel. Who loves not to be on the winning side ? choose truth

for thy side, and thou hast it. News may come that truth is sick,

but never that it is dead. No, it is error that is short-lived ; a

lying tongue is but for a moment ; but truth's age runs parallel

with God's eternity. It shall live to see their heads laid in the

dust, and to walk over their graves, that were so busy to make

one for her. Live, did I say ? yea, reign in peace with those

who now are willing to suffer with, and for it. And wouldst thou

not (Christian^ be one among that goodly train of victors who

shall attend on Christ's triumphant chariot into the heavenly city,

there to take the crown, and sit down in thy throne with those

that have kept the field, when Christ and his truth were militant

here on earth ? Thus, wouldst thou but in thy thoughts wipe

away tears and blood, which now cover the face of suffering truth,

and present it to thy eye, as it shall look in glory, thou couldst

not but cleave to it with a love stronger than death.

But, Secondly, If yet there remains any qualm of fear on thy
fieart from the wrath of bloody men threatening thee for thy pro-
fession of truth, then to a heart inflamed with the love of truth,
labour to add a heart filled with the fear of that wrath, which
God hath in store for all that apostatize from the truth. When
you chance to burn your finger, you hold it to the fire, which,
being a greater fire, draws out the other. Thus when thy
thoughts are scorched, and thy heart seared with the fire of man's
wrath, hold them a while to hell fire, which God hath prepared
for the fearful. Rev. xxi. 8. and all that run away from truth's
colours, Heb. x. 39. and thou wilt lose the sense of the one for
fear of the other. Pardon nie (saith the holy man), O Em-
peror, if I obey not thy command ; thou threatenest a prison, but
God a hell. Observable is that of David, Psal. cxix. 161. Prin-
ces have persecuted me without a cause, hut my heart standeth
in awe of thy word. He had no cause to fear them, that had no
cause to persecute him ; one threatening out of the word (that
set the point of God's wrath to his heart) scares him more than
the worst that the greatest on earth can do to him. Man's
wrath, alas, when hottest, is but a temperate climate, to the
wrath of the living God. They who have felt both have testi-
fied as much. Man's wrath cannot hinder the access of God's
love to the creature, which hath made the saints sing in the fire,

in

6%rf about with Truth. 367

in spite of their enemies' teeth. But the creature under God's
wrath, is like one shut up iu a close oven ; no crevice open to
let any of the heat out, or any refreshing in to him.

CHAP. VI.

Of the Second Kind of Truths Truth of Hearty or Sincerity 9
with the Kinds of it ,• and in particul(M\ of Moral Upright-'
ness, together ivith its Deficienctj ; and a Double Caution
about this ; the one to the Saints, the other to the Morally
Upright Person,

Wf^ come now to the second kind of truths commended to the
^ ^ Christian under the notion of the soldier's girdle, and that
is truth of heart. Where it would be known. First, What I
mean by truth of heart. Secondly, Why conipared to a girdle.
For the

First, By truth of heart, I understand sincerity ; so taken in
Scripture, Heb. x. 22. Ijct us draw near with a true heart,
that is, with a sincere heart. We have them oft conjoined, the
one explaining the other. Josh. xxiv. 14. Fear the Lord^ and
serve him in sincerity and truth. 1 Cor. v. 8. we read of the
unleavened bread of sincerity and ti^th. Hypocrisy is a lie
with a fair cover over it ; an insincere heart is a false heart ; the.
inward frame and motion of the heart comports not with the pro-
fession and behaviour of the outward man ; like a clock, whose
wheels within go not as the hand points without.

Secondly, Sincerity, or truth of heart, may fitly be compared
to a girdle, in regard of the two-fotd use and end, for which a
girdle (especially the soldier's belt) is worn.

First, The girdle is used as an ornament put on uppermost, to
cover the joints of the armour, which would, if seen, cause some
uncomeliness. Here (at the loins I mean) those pieces of armour
for the defence of the lower parts of the body, are fastened to the
upper ; now because they cannot be so closely knit and clasped,
but there will be some little gaping betwixt piece and piece, there-
fore they used to put over these parts a broad girdle, that covered
all that uncomeliness. Now sincerity 4°^^ the same for the
Christian, which the girdle doth for the soldier. The saint's
graces are not so close, nor his life so exact, but in the best there
are found infirmities and defects, which are so many gapings and
clefts in his armour ; but sincerity covers all, that he is neither
put to shame for them, nor exposed to danger by them.

Secondly;?

i69 Having ^oiir Loins

Secondly, The girdle was nsed for strengtli ; by tins the loins
were staid and united, and the soldier made stronger to fight or
march ; as a gjlrment, the closer it fits, the warmer it is ; so the
belt, the closer it is girt, the more strength the loins feel ; hence
God, threatening to enfefeble and weaken a person or people,
saith, Their loins shall be loosened^ Isa. xlv. 1 . J will loose the
loins ofkings^ and Job xii. 21. Me weakened the strength of the
mighty. He looseth the girdle of the mighty.

Now sincerity may well be compared in this respect to the
soldier's girdle. It is a grace that doth gird the soul with
strength, and makes it mighty to do or suffer. Indeed it is the
very strength of every grace ; so niuch hypocrisy as is found
cleaving to our graces, so much weakness. 'Tis sincere faith
that is strong faith. Sincere love, that is the mighty love. Hy-
pocrisy is to grace, as the worm is to the oak, the rust to the
iroti ; it weakens them, because it corrupts them. The metaphor,
tl^Tis opened, affords these two doctrinal conclusions ; in handling
of which, I shall comprise what I have to say further of this
piece of armour.

lyoct. 1. That sincerity, or truth of heart in our ways, covers
all the Christian's uncomeliness.

. £>oct, 2. That truth of heart, or sincerity, is of excellent use
to strengthen the Christian in his whole course.

JDoct, 1 . To begin with the first, sincerity covers all our un-
comelinesses. In handling this point, this is our method.

First, To inquire which is the truth and sincerity that doth
this.

Secondly, We shall inquire wiiat uncomelinesses there are that
sincerity covers.

Thirdly, How sincerity covers them.

Fourthly, Why sincerity doth this, or some account given for
all this.

First, of the first. Let us inquire which is that truth and sin-
cerity that covers all uncomelinesses and deficiencies in the Chris-
tian. Here we must distinguish of a two-fold sincerity ; one
moral, another evangelical. 1. There is a moral ti-uth and up-
rightness, which we may call a field-flower, because it may be
fouud gi'owing in the wild and waste of nature. It cannot be de-
nied, but one that hath not a dram of sanctifying saving grace,
may shew some kind of uprightness and truth in his actions. —
God himself comes in as a witness for Abiraelech, that what he
did in taking Sarah, was in the uprightness of his heart. Gen. xx.
6. I know (saith God) that thou didst this in the integrity of
thy heart ; that is, thou didst mean honestly, as to this particular
business, and didst not intend any wrong to Abraham, whose wife
she was, unknown to thee. Joab, though a bloody man, yet;

dealt

Girt about mth Truth. 369

dealt very uprightly and squa,rely with David, concerning the
rendition of Kabbah, when he had a fair advantage of stealing
away the honour from his prince to himself. Many such instances
may be given of men that have been great strangers to a work
of grace on their hearts; but this is not the uprightness that we
mean in the point laid down* It doth indeed render a person
•very lovely, and amiable before men, to be thus upright and ho-
nest in his dealings ; but methinks I hear the Lord saying con-
cerning such, as once he did to Samuel of Ehab, I Sam. xvi. 7n
Look not OH their countenance^ so as to think these ai'e they
ivhieh he accepts ; no, he4iath refused them, for the Lord seeth
not as man steth, God's eye looks deeper than man's. There
are two great defects in this uprightness, which God rejects it

for. First, It grows not from a good root, a renewed heart -

This is a hair on the moral man's pen, which blurs and blots his
copy, when he writes fairest. It is like the leprosy of Naaman ;
that same, lyut he was a leper, took away the honour of his great-
ness at court, and prowess in the field ; so hei^ it stains the
faii/est actions of a mere moral man. But he is a christless
graceless persmi. The uprightness of such does others more
good in this world, than themselves in another. They are by
this moral honesty profitable to those that have civil com*
merce with them ; but it doth not render themselves acceptable
to God. Indeed, had not God left some authority of conscience
to awe and keep them that have no grace within some bounds of
honesty, this world would ha,ve been no more habitable for the
saints, than the forest of wild beasts is now for man. And such
is the uprightness of men, void of sanctifying grace, that they are
rather rid by an overpowering light of conscience that scares
thenfi, than sweetly led by any inward principle inclining them to
take complacency in that which is' good. Abinielech himself,
for whom (as we read) God so apologized, yet is let to know,
that his honesty in that matter came rather from God's restraint
upon him, than any real goodness in him : Gen. xx. I also with-
held thee front sinning against me^ therefore suffered I thee ndt
to touch her.

Secondly, This moral uprightness falls short of the chief end
indispensably necessary to make a person upright indeed. This
is the glory of God, 1 Cor. x. 31. Whatever ye do, do all to the
glory of God, The arclier may lose his game by shooting short,
as well as shooting wide. The gross hypocrite shoots wide, the
uprightest moralist shoots short. He may, and oft doth, take his
aim right, rs to the particular and immediate end of his action,
but ever fails in regard of the ultimate end. Thus, a servant may
be faithful to his miaster, scorn to wrong him of a farthing, yea,
cordially seek his master's profit, and yet God never looked at,

or

370 Having yom* Loins

•

or thought of in all this, and so all worth nothing, because God
is left out of the story, who is principally to be regarded : £ph.
vi, 7» Servants are commanded to do their service as to God, not
toman; that is, not onh/ nor chiefly to man. 'Tis true, the
master is not to be looked at in the servant's duty, but in his viray,
only as it leads to the glory of God ; he must not, when he hath
desired to please his earthly master, sit down as at his journey's
end, but pass on, as the eye doth through the air and clouds to
the sun, where it is terminated ; so he to God, as the chief end,
why he is dutiful and faithful to man. Now no principle can lead
the soul so high as to aim at God, but that which comes from
God. See both these excellently couched together, Phil. \* 10,
11. That ye may he sincere^ being filled with the fruits ofHgh-
ieousness^ which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of
God. Where you may observe. First, That the sincerity of the
right stamp is that which brings forth fruits of righteousness to
the praise of God, that is, where the glory of God is the end of
all our actions. Secondly, That such fruit cannot be born, but
by Christ ; the soul must be planted into Christ, before it can
be thus sincere, to bear fruits of righteousness to the praise of
God. Hence these fruits of righteousness are said to be by
Jesus Christ. What men do by themselves, they do for them-
selves : they eat their own fruit, devour the praise of what they
do; the Christian only that doth all by Christ, doth all for Christ ;
he hath his sap from Christ (into whom he is grafted) that makes
Lira fruitful, and therefore he reserves all the fruit he bears for
him. Thus we see how this moral uprightness is itself funda-
mentally defective, and therefore cannot be that girdle which
bides and covers our other defects : yet before I pass on to the
other, I would leave a two-fold caution for improvement of what
hath been said concerning tuis uprightness ; the one is to the sin-
cere Christian, the other is to such as have no more than a moral
uprightness.

Caution 1. To the sincere Christian. May there be fouud a
kind of uprightness among men that are carnal and destitute of
God's sanctifying grace ? O then, look you to it, in whose hearts
dwells the spirit of grace, that you be not put to shame by those
that are graceless, which you must needs be, when you are taken
tardy in those things, that they cannot be charged for. Many
among them there are that scorn to lie ; shall a saint be taken in
an untruth ? Their moral principles bind them over to the peace,
and will not suffer them to wrong their neighbour ; and can
cheating, over-reaching oppression, follow a saint's hand ? Ex-
cept your righteousness exceeds their best, you are not Chris-
tians ; and can you let them exceed you in those things, which,
when they are done, leave them short of Christ and heaven ?

'Tis

Girt about with Truth, 371

•Tis time for the scholar to throw of his gown, and disclaim the
name of an Academick, when every school-boy is able to dunce
and puzzle him ; and for him also to lay aside his profession, and
let the world know what he is, yea, what he never was, that caa
let a mere civil man, with his weak bow, only backed with mo-
ral principles, out-shoot him that pretends to Christ and his grace.
I confess it sometimes so falls out, that a saini under a tempta-
tion may be out-stripped by one that is carnal in a particular
case ; as a lackey that is an excellent footman, may (from some
prick, or present lameness in his foot) be left behind, by one
that at another time should not be able to come near him. We
have too many sorrowful examples of moral men's out-stripping
even a saint, at a time, when under a temptation ; a notable pas-
sage we meet with concerning Abimelech's speech to Sarah (after
her dissembling and equivocating speech, that Abraham was her
brother). Gen. xx. \^, And unto Sarah he said (that is, Abi-
melech said to her), Behold I have given thy brother a thousand
pieces of silver ; behold^ he is to thee a covering of the eyes unto
all that are with thee^ and with all other. Now, mark the
words which follow. Thus she was reproved,. How ? where
lies the reproof? Here are none but good words, and money to
boot also. He promised protection to her and Abraham ; none
should wrong him in wronging her ; and tejls her what he
had fi-eely given Abraham. Well, for all this we shall find a
sharp reproof, Chough lapped up in these sweet words, and
silvered over with his thousand pieces. First, She was re-
proved by the uprightness of Abimelech in that business, where-
in she had sinfully dissembled. That he who was a stranger
to the true God and his worship, should be so square and ho-
nest, as to deliver her up untouched, when once he knew her to
be another man's wife ; and not only so, but instead of falling
into a passion of anger, and taking up thoughts of revenge against
them, for putiing this cheat upon him (which having them under
his power, had not been strange for a prince to have done) ; for
him to forget all this, and rather shew such kindness and high
bounty to them, this must needs send a sharp reproof home to
Sarah's heart, especially considering that he, a heathen, did all
this ; and she (one called to the knowledge of God, in covenant
with God, and the wife of a prophet) was so poor-spirited, as for
fear of a danger which only her husband (and that without any
great ground) surmised, to commit two sins at one clap, disseiii-
ble, and also hazard the loss of her chastity (the least of which
was worse than the thing they were so afraid of) ; these things, I
say, laid together, amounted to such a reproof, as no doubt made

her and Abraham too heartily ashamed before God and man.

Again, Abimelech/ in calling Abraham her brother (not her hus-

A a ^ band),

372 Having tjovr Loins

band), did give her a smart rebuke, putting her in mind, how
with that word he had been deceived by them. Thus godly
Sarah was reproved by a prophane king. O Christians, take
heed oF putting words into the mouths of wicked men to reprove
you withal ; they cannot reprove you, but they reproach God :
Christ is put to shame with you and by you j for the good name-
sake of Christ, which cannot but be dearer to you (if saints)
than your lives, look to your walkihg, and especially your civil
converse with the men of the world ; they know not what you do
in your closet, care not what you are in the congregation, they
judge you by what you are when they have to do with you. As
they find you in your Shop, bargains, promises, and such like, so
they think of you and your profession. Labour therefore for this
uprightness to man ; by this you may win some, and judge
others. Better vex the wicked world \yith strict walking, as Lot
did the Sodomites, than set them on work to mock and reproach
thee and thy profession by any scandal, as David by his sad fall. —
They that will not follow the light of thy holiness, will soon spy
the thief in the candle, and point at it.

Caution 2. The second Word of caution, is to those that are
morally upright, and no more. Take heed this uprightness
proves not a snare to thee, and keeps thee from getting evangeli-
cal uprightness. • 1 am sure it was so to the young man in the
gospel. In all likelihood he might have been better, had he not
been so good. His honesty and moral uprightness was his undo-
ing, or rather his conceit of them, to castle himself in them. —
Better he had been a publican, driven to Christ in the sense of
his sin, than a pharisee, kept from him with an opinion of his in-
tegrity. These, these are the weeds, with which many (think-
ing to save themselves by) keep themselves under water to their
perdition. There is more hope of a fool ^ Solomon tells us, than
of one wise in his own conceit ; and of the greatest sinner, than
of one conceited of his own righteousness. If once the disease
take the brain, the cure must needs be the more difficult : no of-
fering Christ to one in a frenzy. Art thou one k^t from un-
righteous ways wherein others walk ? May be, thou art honest]
and upright in thy course, and scornest to be found false in anj
of thy dealings. Bless God for it, but take heed of blessing thy
self in it ; there is the danger; this is oneway of being righteoui
over-muoh ; a dangerous pit, of which Solomon warns all that
travel in heaven-road, Eccles. vii. 16. There is undoing in this
over-doing,. as well as in any under-doing ; for so it follows in the
same verse, Whi/ shouldst thou destroy thyself? Thou art not,
proud man, so fair for heaven as thou flatterest thyself. A man
upon the top of one hill, may seem very nigh to the top of ano-
ther, and yet can never come there, except he comes down from
that where he is. The mount of thy civil righteousness, and mo-

Girt about with Truth. 3? 3

rail iipvlghtness, on which thou standest so confidently, seems per-
haps level in thy proud eye to God's holy hill in heaven, yea, so
nigh, that thou thinkest to step over from one to the other with
ease. But let me tell thee, it is too great a stride for thee to
take ; thy safer way, and nearer, were to come down from thy
rnountainof self-confidence, where satan hath^et thee, on a design
to break thy neck, and to go the ordinary road, in which all that
ever got heaven went ; and that is by labouring to get an interest
in Christ and his righteousness, which is provided on purpose for
the creature to wrap up his naked soul ia, and to place his faith
on; and thus thy uprightness (which before was but of the same
form \vith the heathen's moral honesty) may commence, or rather
be baptized. Christian, and become evangelical grace : but let me
tell thee, before I dismiss thee, that thou canst not lay hold of
Christ's righteousness, till thou hast let fall the lie (thy own righ-
teousness) which hitherto thou hast held so fast in thy right hand.
When Christ called the blind man to him, Mark x. 50. it is said,
he^ casting aivay his garment, rose and came to Jesus ; do thou
so, and then come and welcome.

<^%%%%v»v%»^v»<»v%<%vww»v»v»%/»

CHAP. VII.

Of Evangeltcai or Godl^ Sincerity, what it is ; and what lJn»
comelinesses this Girdle covers ; as also how it covers them.

XliT'E proceed to the second kind ortruth^ Or uprightness, which
^ ^ I called an evangelical uprightness. This is a plant found
growing only in Christ's garden, or the enclosure of a gracious
soul. It is by way of distinction from that I called moral, known
by the name of a godli/ sincerif/y^ or the sincerity of God, 2 Cor.
i. 12. Our rejoicing is in this^ the testimonif of our conscience,
that in simpliciti^ and godly sincerity^ not with fleshly ivisdom ;
but by the giace of God^ we have had our conversation in the
&orld, , Now in two respects this evangelical sincei'ity may be
called godly sincerity. First, because it is of God. Secondly,
because it aims at God, and ends in God.

SECT. I First, It is of God. It ijs his creature, begot in

the heart by bis spirit alone. Paul, in the place afore-mentioned,
2 Cor. i. 12. doth excellently derive its pedigree for us. What
he calls walking in godly sincerity , in the first part of the verse,
he calls having our conversation by the grace of God, in the lat-
ter part ; yea, opposeth it to walking with fleshly wisdom in the
world (the great wheel in the moral man's clock) ; and what doth
all this amount to, but to shew that this sincerify is a babe of

A a 2 grftce,

o74i Having your Ztoins

grace, and calls none on earth father ? But this is not al! ; this
godly sincerity is not only of divine extraction (for so are com-
mon gifts that are supernatural, the hypocrite's boon as well as
the saint's) ; but it is part of the new creature, which his sancti-
fying spirit forms and works in the elect, and none besides. It
is a covenant-grace, Ezek. xi. 19. I will give them one heart,
and I will put a new spirit within you. That one heart is
this godly sincere heart opposed to the double hearty or a
heart and a heart, by which the hypocrite is often described in
the word.

Secondly, It aims at God^ and ends in God, The highest
project and most ultimate end that a soul, thus sincere, is big
with, is, how it may please God. The disappointment such a
godly sincere person meets with from any other, troubles him no
more, than it would to a merchant, who speeds in the main end
of his voyage to the Indies, and returns richly laden with the
prize of gold and silver he went for, but only loseth his garter or
shoe-string in the voyage. As the master's eye directs the ser-
vant's hand, if he can do his business to his master's mind, he
hath his wish, though strangers, who come into the shop, like it
not. Thus godly sincerity acquiesceth in the Lord's judgment
of him. Such a one shoots not at small nor great, studies not to
accommodate himself to any, to hit the humour of rich or poor,
but singles out God in his thoughts from all other, as the chief
object of his love, faith, fear, joy, &:c. : he directs all his endea-
vours, like a wise archer, at this point, and when he can most
approve himself to God, he counts he shoots best. Hear holy
Paul speaking, not only his own private thoughts, but the com-
mon sense of all sincere believers, 2 Cor. v. 9. TVe labour, whe-
ther present or absent^ that we may be accepted of him. The
world's true man, is he that will not wrong man ; though many
go thus far, who can make thus bold with God for all their demure
carriage to man. Some that would not steal the worth of a penny
from their neighbour, yet play the notorious thieves with God in
greater matters, than all the money their neighbour hath is worth.
They can steal that time from God, to gratify their own occa-
sions, which he hath inclosed for himself, and lays peculiar claim
to (the Sabbath-day I mean), by such a title as will upon trial
be found stronger, I trow, than we can shew for the rest of the
week to be ours. Others will not lie to man possibly in their
dealing with him j and it were better living in the world, if there
were more of this truth among us ; but these very men, many
of them, yea, all that are not more than morally upright,
make nothing of lying to God, which they do in every prayer
they make, promising to do what they never bestow a serious
thought how they may perform : they say they will sanctify

God's

Girt about with Truth* 375

pod's name, and yet throw dirt in the face of every attribute ia
it ; they pray that the will of God may be done, and yet, while
they know their sanctification is his will, they content themselves
with their unholy hearts and natures, and think it enough to
beautify the front of their lives, that part which faceth man, and
stands to the street, as I may so say, with a few flourishes of ci-
vility and justness in their worldly dealings, though their inward
man lies all in woeful ruins at the same time. But he is God's
true man, that desires to give unto God the things that are God's,
as well as unto man the things that are man's ; yea, who is first
true to God, and then to man for his sake. Good Joseph, when
his brethren feared, as strangers to him, (for yet they knew no
otherj, they should receive some hard measure at his hands; mark,
what course he takes to free their troubled thoughts from all sus-
picion of any unrighteous dealing from him. Do this^ saith he,
andlive^for Ifear God^ Gen. xlii. 18. As if he had said, Ex-
pect nothing from me, but what is square and upright, for I fear
God ; you possibly think, because I am a great man, and you
poor strangers, where you have no friend to intercede for you,
that my might should bear down your right, but you may save
yourselves the trouble of such jealous thoughts concerning me ; for
I see one infinitely more above me, than 1 seem to be above you,
and him I fear, which I could not do if I should be false to you.
The word, 2 Cor. i. 12. for sincerity, is emphatical, eilikrineia^
a metaphor from things tried by the light of the sun, as when you
are buying cloth, or such like ware, you will carry it out of the
dark shop, and hold it up to the light, by which the least hole in
it is discovered j or as the eagle (say some) holds up her young
against the sun, and judgeth them her own, if able to look up wish-
fully against it, or spurious if not able. Truly, that is the godly sin^
cere soul, which looks up to heaven, and desires to be determined in
his thoughts, judgment, affections, and practices, as they can stand
before the light, which shines from thence through the word, the
luminary into which God hath gathered all light for guiding souls,
as the sun in the firmament is for directing our bodies in their
walking to and fro in the world. If these suit with the word, and
can look on it, without being put to shame by it, then on the sin-
cere soul goes in his enterprize with courage, nothing shall stop
him : but if any of these be found to shun the light of the word
(as Adam would, if he could, the seeing of God), not being able to
stand to its trial, then he is at his journey's end, and can be
drawn forth by no arguments from the flesh ; for it goes not ou
the flesh's errand, but on God's; and he that sends him, shall only
stay him. Things are true or right, as they agree with their first
principles. When the counterpart agrees with the original writ-
ing, then it is true ; when a measure agrees with the legal stan-

A a 3 dard

376 Having your Loins

dard or town bushel, then it is true : Now the will of God is
standard to all our wills, and he is the sincere man that labours
to take the rule and measure of all his affections and actions from
that. Hence David is called a man after God's own heart,
which is but 2l periphrasis of his sincerity, and is as much as if
the Spirit of God had said, he was an upright man, he carries on
his heart the sculpture and image of God's heart, as it is engraved
on the seal of the word. But enough for the present ; this may
serve to shew what is evangelical uprightness. Three things
would be desired further, before we fall on the application.

First, To shew what uncoraelinesses they are that sincerity
covers.

Secondly, How sincerity covers these.

Thirdly, Why this evangelical sincerity doth cover these. We
shall give some account to all.

SECT. II quest. I. Of the first, What uucomeliness doth

sincerity cover ?

Ans, I answer, all, especially sinful. There are several exter-
nal temporal privileges, in which, if any fall short (such excel-
lency does this vain world put on them, more than their intrinsi-
cal worth calls for), they are exposed to some dishonour, if not
contempt, in the thoughts of others. Now where sincere grace
is, it affords a fair cover to them all ; yea, puts more abundant
honour on the person in the sight of God, angels, and men also,
if wise, than the other can occasion contempt.

I , Beauty : this is the great idol, which the whole world
wanders after^ as they after the beast^ Rev. xiii. which if God
denies, and confines the souls of some to a more uncomely house
(body I mean) than others, this their mean bodily presence pre-
judiceth them in the esteem of others. Now grace, if it be but
graced with sincerity, shinps through the cloud that nature hath
darkened the countenance withal, Eccl. viii. 1. Wisdom snakes
the face shine. Who, that hath the use of his reason, would not
prize and choose the vessel in the cellar full of generous wine,
before a gilt tun that hangs up empty at the door for a sign ? If
sincere grace fills not the heart within, the beauty with which
nature hath gilt the face without, makes the person but little
worth. A beautiful person, without true grace, is but a fair
stinking weed ; you know the best of such a one, if you look ob
him furthest off; whereas a sincere heart, without this outward
beauty to commend it, is like some sweet flower (not painted with
such tine colours on the leaves), better in the hand than eye, to
smell on, than look on : the nearer you come to the sincere soul,
the better you find him. Outward uucomeliness to true grace,
is but as some old mean buildings you sometimes see stand before
a, goodly stately house, which hide its glory only from the tra-
veller

Girt about with Truth. Z77

yeller tliat pasaeth hy at some distance ^ but he that comes id, sees
its beauty, and admires it.

%, Again, A mean parentage, and inglorious descent, is much
despised in tlie world. Well, how base soever the stock, and ig-
poble the birth be, when grace unfeigned comes, it brings arms
with it, it clarifies the blood, and makes the house illustrious. —
Since thou wast precious in niy f^/f , thou hast been homurahle^
Isa. iv. 4. Sincerity sets a mark of honour ; if you see this star
shiuing, though over a mean cottage, it tells thee a great prince
dwells there, an heir of heaven. Sincerity brings the creature
into alliance with a high family, no less than of the high God,
by which new alliance, his own inglorious name is blotted out,
and a new name given him : he bears the name of God, to whom
he is joined by a faith unfeigned ; who dares say that the God of
heaven's child, or Christ's bride, are of an ignoble birth ?

3. Again, A low purse, as well as low parentage, exposeth to
contempt, yea, more : Some, by their purse, redeem themselves
in time (as they think) from the scorn of their mean stock. The
little spring from whence the water came, by the time it hath
run some miles, and swelled into a broad river, is out of sight,
and not inquired much after : but poverty, that itself sounds re-
proach in the ears of this proud world. Well, though a man
were poor, even to a proverb, yet if a vein of true godliness, siq,.
cere grace, be but to be found running in his heart, here is a rich
mine, that will lift him up above all the world's contempt ; such
a one may possibly say, he hath no money in his house ; but he
cannot say, that he hath no treasure, that he is not rich, and
speak true ; he surely is rich that hath a key to God's treasury.
The sincere soul is rich in God j what God hath is his ; all is
yours^ you are ChrisVs,

4. Again, In a word, to name no more parts and endowments
of the mind, these are applauded above all the former by some ;
and indeed they carry in them an excellency, that stands more
level to his noblest faculty, reason, than the other, which are so
far beneath its spiritual nature, that as Gideon's soldiers (some
of them) could not drink the water till they bowed down on their
knees, so neither could man take any relish in these, did he not
first debase himself far beneath the lofty stature of his reasonable

♦soul ; but knowledge, parts, and abilities of the mind, these seem
to lift up man's head, and make him that he loseth none of his
height ; and therefore none so contemptible by the wise world, as
those that are of weak parts, and mean intellectual abilities. —
Well, now let us see what cover sincerity hath for this nakedness
of the mind, which seems the most shameful of all the rest.
Where art thou, Christian, that I may tell thee (who sits lament-
ing and bemoaning thy weak parts, and shallow understanding)

A a 4 what

37^ Having your Loim

what a liappy man tliou art, with thy honest sincere heart, be-
yond all compare with these, whose sparkling parts do so dazzle
thy eyes, that thou canst not see thy own privilege above them ?
Their pearl is but in the head, and they may be toads for all
that ; but thine is in the heart, and it is the pearl of gi^ace that is
the pearl of greatest price. Thy sincere heart sets thee higher
in God's heart, than thy weak parts do lay thee low in their de-
ceived opinion ; and thou, without the abilities of mind that they
have, shalt find the way to heaven ; but they, for all their strong
parts, shall be tumbled down to hell, because they have not thy
sincerity. Thy mean gifts do not render thee incapable of hea-
ven's glory; but their unsanctified gifts and endowments are
sure to make them capable of more of hell's shame and misery. —
In a word, though here thy head be weak, and parts low, yet for
thy comfort know, thou shalt have a better head given thee to thy j|
sincere heart, when thou comest to heaven ; but their knowing j
heads shall not meet with better hearts in hell, but be yoked eter-
nally to their own wicked ones in torment ; but enough of this,
I come to the second kind of uncomeliness which sincerity covers,
and that is sinful.

Secondly, Now this sinful uncomeliness must needs be the
worst, because it lights on the most beautiful part, the soul; if
dirt thrown on the face be more uncomely than on another mem-
ber, because 'tis the fairest, then no uncomeliness like that, which
defiles and blacks the soul and spirit ; because this is intended by
God, to be the prime seat of man's beauty. Now that which
most stains and deforms the soul, must be that which most op-
poseth its chief perfection, which in its primitive creation was,
and can still be no other than the beauty of holiness, drawn on it
by the holy spirit's curious pencil : and what can that be but the 1
foul monster which is called sin ? This hath marred man's sweet
countenance, that he is no more like the beauty of God created,
than dead Sarah's face was like that beauty, which was a bait for
the greatest princes, and made her husband go in fear of his life,
wherever he came ; nay, than the foul fiend, now a cursed devil
in hell, is like to the holy angel he was in heaven. This wound
which was given by sin to man's nature, Christ hath undertaken!
to cure by his grace in his elect : the cure is begun here, but not
so perfected, that no scar and blemish remains ; and this is th^J
great uncomeliness which sincerity lays its finger on, and covers,

SECT. Ill Q,U€st. 2. But here the question may be, HoWj

sincerity covers the saints' sinful uncomelinesses ?

Ans. I shall answer to this, first negatively^ and shew how it
doth not; second, ajirmatwely, how it doth.

First, Negatively, how sincerity doth not cover them ; and that
in several particulars. First, Sincerity doth not so cover the

saints'

Girt about with Truth. 3^9 •

saints' fallings, as to take away their sinful nature ; wandering
thoughts are sins in a saint, as well as in another : a weed will
be a weed wherever it grows, though in a garden among the
choicest flowers : they mistake then, who, because the saints' sins
are covered, deny them to be sins. Secondly, It doth not cover
them so as to give us the least ground to think that God doth al-
low, the Christian to commit the least sin more than others ; in-
deed it is inconsistent with God's holiness to give, and with a
saint's sincerity to pretend, such a dispensation to be given them.
A father may, out of his indulgence and love to his child, pass
by a failing in his waiting on him; as if he spills the wine, or
breaks the glass he is bringing to him ; but sure he will not allow
him to throw it down carelessly or willingly. Though a man
may be easily intreated to forgive his friend that wounded him
unawares, when he meant him no hurt ; yet he Will not before-
hand give him leave to do it. Thirdly, It doth not so cover them,
as that God should not see them, which is not only derogatory to
^lis omniscience, but to his mercy also ; for he cannot pardon
what he did not first see to be sin : God doth not only see the
sins of his children, but their failings are more distasteful to him
than others ; because the persons in which they are found are so
dear, and stand so near unto him. A dunghill in a prince's cham-
ber would be more offensive to him, than one afar off from his
court. The Christian's bosom is God's court, throne, temple ;
there he hath taken up his rest for ever. Sin there must needs
be very unsavoury to his nostrils. Fourthly, It doth not so cover
them, as that the saints need not confess them, be humbled under
them, or sue out a pardon for them ; a penny is as due debt as a
pound, and therefore to be acknowledged ; indeed that which is
a sin of infirmity in the committing, becomes a sin of presump-
tion by hiding of it, and hardening in it. Job held fast his in-
tegrity throughout his sad conflict ; yet those failings which
escaped him in the paroxysm of his afflictions brought him upon
his knees ; I abhor myself (saith he), and repent in dust and
ashes, Job xlii. 6. Fifthly, and lastly. It doth not so cover them,
as if our sincerity had the least merit, and deserve that'God should
for it cover our other failings and infirmities : were there such a
thing as obedience absolutely complete, it could not merit pardon
for past sins ; much less can an imperfect obedience (as sincerity
is in a strict sense) deserve it for present failings. Obedience
legally perfect, is no more than, as creatures, we owe to the law
of God ; and how could that pay the debt of sin, which was it-
self due debt, before any sin was committed ? Much less can
evangelical obedience (which is sincerity) do it, that falls short
by far of that obedience we do owe. If he that owes twenty
pounds, meiits nothing when he pays the whole sum, then surely

he

380 Having ifour Loins \

he doth not, that, of the twenty pounds he owes, pa^^s but twenty
pence. Indeed creditors may take what they please, and if they
will say half satisfies them, it is discharge enough to the debtor.
But where did ever God say he would thus compound with his
creatures ? God stands as strictly upon it in the gospel-covenant
to have the whole debt paid, as he did in the first of works.—
There was required a full righteousness in keeping, or a full curse
for breaking of the law ; so there is in the evangelical ; only here
the w^ards of the lock are changed. God requireth this at the
creature's hand, in the first covenant, to be personally performed,
or endured : but in the gospel-covenant he is content to take both
at the hands of Christ our surety, and impute these to the sui-
cere soul that unfeiguedly believes on him, and gives up himself
to him.

SECT. IV. — Secondly, To shew positively how sincerity co-
vers the saints failings.

1. Sincerity is that property to which pardoning mercy is an-
wexed. True indeed, it is Christ that covers all our sins and
failings ; but it is only the sincere soul, over which he will cast
his skirt, Psal. xxxii. 2. Blessed is he whose sin is covered i
blessed i-s the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquitt/.
None will doubt this ; but which is the man ? The next words
tells us his name : and in whose spirit there is noguile. Christ's
righteousness is the garment that covers our nakedness and shame
of our unrighteousness; faith, the grace that puts this garment
on ; but what faith ? None but the faith unfeigned, as Paul calls
it, 2 Tim. i. Here is water^ said the eunuch, what doth hinder
me to be baptized? Acts viii. 36. Now mark Philip's answer,
ver. S7» If thou believest with all thy hearty thou mayest ; as if
he had said. Nothing but an hypocritical heart can hinder thee.
ft is the false heart only finds the door of mercy shut. He that
promises to cover the sincere soul's failings, threatens to uncover
the hypocrite's impiety, Prov. x. 9. He that perverteth his way^
shall be known^ that is, to his shame.

2. Where sincerity is, God approves of that soul, as, a holy
righteous person, notwithstanding that mixture of sin which is
found in him. As God doth not like the saint's sin for his sin-
cerity, so he doth not unsaiut him for that. God will set his
hand to Lot's testimonial, that he is a righteous man, though many
sins are recorded in the Scripture, which he fell into (and foul
ones too) ; yet Job as perfect, because the frame of his heart was
sincere, the tenure of his life holy, and he was rather surprised
by them as temptations, than they entertained by him upon
choice. Though sincerity doth not blind God's eye, that he
should not see the saint's sin, yet it makes him see it with a piti-
ful eye, and not a wrathful ! As a husband, knowing his wife

faithful

I Girt about with Truth. 381

faithful to hiin in the main,^ pities her in other weaknesses, and
for all thera, accounts her a good wife. In all this (saith God)
Job sinned not ; and at the very close of his combat, God brings
him out of the field with this honourable testimony to his friends,
that had taken so much pains to bring his godliness in ques-
tion ; that his servant Job had spoken right of him. Truly God
said more of Job, than he durst of himself. He freely confesseth
his unadvised froward speeches, and cries out, I abhor wyself^
and repejif in dust and ashes, God saw Job's sins attended with
sincerity, and therefore judged him perfect and righteous : Job
saw his sincerity dashed with many sad failings, and this made
him, in the close of all, rather confess his sins with shame, than
glory in his grace. God's mercy is larger to his children, than
their charity is many times to themselves and their brethren. 1,
To themselves : do yon think the Prodigal (the emblem of a con*
vert) durst have asked the robe, or desired his father to be at
soch cost for his entertainment, as his father freely bestowed on
him ? No, sure: a room in the kitchen, we see, was as high as
he durst ask, to ^be among ihe meanest servants in the house ;
Poor soul ! he could not conceive he should have such a meet-
ing with his father at first sight. A robe ! he might rather look
for a rope, at least a rod. A feast at his father's table ! O un-
looked-for welcome ! I doubt not but if any one had met him
on his way, and told him that his father was resolv(»cl, as soon as
he came home, not to let him see his face, but immediately to
send him to Bridewell, there to be whipt, and fed with bread and
water for many months, and then perhaps he would at last look
on him, and take him home, but, in his starving condition — this
would have been good news to him; but. as God hath strange
punishments for the wicked, so he hath strange expressions of
love and mercy for sincere souls. He loves to outdo their high-
est expectations : kiss, robe^ feast, all in one day, and that the
first day of his return, when the memory of his outrageous wick-
ednesses were fresh, and the stinking scent of his swill and swine,
from which he was but newly come, hardly gone ! What a great
favourite is sincerity with the God of heaven ! Again, God's
mercy is larger to his children, than their charity is towards one
another. Those whom we are ready to unsaint for failings that
appear in their lives, God owns for his perfect ones, because of
their sincerity. We find Asa's failings expressed, and his per-
fections vouched by God together, as I may say, in a breath, 2
Chron. xv. 17. It was well God cleared that good man ; for
had but the naked story of his life (as it stands in the scripture)
been recorded, without any express testimony of God's approving
him, his godliness would have hazarded a coming under dis-
pute in the opinion of good men j yea, many more with him (con.

cerning

382 Having your Loins

cerning whom we are put out of doubt, because we find them
canonized for saints by God himself^, would have been cast, if a
jury of men, and these holy men too, had gone upon them. —
jElijah himself, because he saw none have.si'.ch zeal for God, and
his worship, as to wear their colours openly in a free profession,
and hang out a flag of defiance against the idolatry of the times,
by a stout opposing it, as he did^ (which might be their sin),
makes a sad moan to God, as if nie apostacy had been so general
that the whole species of the godly had been preserved in his
single person. But God brings this holy man better news, 1
Kings xix. 18. I have left seven thousand in Israel^ all the knees
which have not Lowed down to Baal^ and every mouth that hath
not kissed him. As if God had said, Comfort thyself, Elijah ;
though ray number be not great, yet neither is there such a dearth
of saints as thou fearest in this ungodly age ; it is true, their faith
is weak, they dare not jostle with the sins of the age, as thou
doest, for which thou shalt not lose thy reward ; yet those night-
disciples, that for fear carry their light in a dark lanthern, (hav-
ing some sincerity which keeps them from polluting themselves
with these idolatries), must not, shall not be disowned by me.—
That God, who bids us be most tender of his lambs, is much more
tender of them himself. Observable is that place, 1 John ii. 12,
13, 14. There are three ranks of saints, fathers, young men,
little children ; and the Spirit of God chiefly shews his tender
care of them, as by mentioning them first, ver. 12. so by leaving
the sweet promise of pardoning mercy in their lap and bosom,
rather than either of the other : Little children^ 1 write unto
you, for your sins are forgiven you for my name^s sake. But
are not the fathers' sins, and the young men's also forgiven ? Yes ;
who doubts it ? But he doth not so particularly apply it to them,
^ to these ; because these, from a sense of their own failings,
(out of which the other were more grown), were more prone to
dispute against this promise in their own bopoms : yea, he doth
not only in plain terms tell them, their sins are forgiven, but
meets with the secret objection, which comes from their trem-
bling hearts, in opposition to this good news, taken from their own
vileness and unworthiness, and stops its mouth with this, forgiven
for my name^s sake^ a greater name, than the name of their big-
gest sin, which discourages them from believing.

Thirdly, sincerity keeps up the soul's credit at the throne of
grace, so that no sinful infirmity can hinder its welcome with God.
It is the regarding of iniqidty in the heart, not the having of it,
stops God's ear from hearing our prayer. It is a temptation, not
a few have found some work to get over ; whether such as they,
who see so many sinful failings in themselves, may take the bold-
ness to pray, or, without presuming, to expect audience when

they

Girt about m'ih Truth, 383

they have prayed j and sometimes prevails so far, that because
they cannot pray as they would, therefore they forbear what they
should ; much like some p(5or people that keep from the congre-
gation, because they have not such clothes to come in as they de-
sire. To meet such as are turning away from duty upon this fear,
the promises (which are our only ground for prayer, and chief
plea in prayer) are accommodated, and fitted to the lowest degree
of grace ; so that as a picture well drawn, faceth all the room
alike that look on it, so the promises of the gospel-covenant smile
upon all that sincerely look to God in Christ. It is not said, If
T/ou have faith like a cedar ^ hut if i/ou have faith like a grain
of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain^ remove hence
to yonder place^ and it shall remove. Matt. xvii. 20. ; neither is
justifying faith beneath miraculous faith in its own sphere of ac-
tivity ; the least faith on Christ, if sincere, as truly removes the
mountainous guilt of sin from the soul, as the strongest ; hence

all the saints are said to have like precious faith ^ 2 Pet. i. 3

Sarah's faith (which in Genesis we can hardly see, as the story
presents it, wherein it appeared) obtains an honourable mention,
Heb. xi. where God owns her for a believer, as well as Abraham
with his stronger faith. What love is it the promise entails the
favours of God upon ? not grace be with them that love our Lord
Jesus with a seraphim's love, but w\th.2i sincere love, Eph. vi. 24.
Not, blessed they who are holy to such measure ; this would have
fitted but some saints ; the greatest part would have gone and
said, There is nothing for me, I am not so holy j but, that no
saint might lose his portion, it is. Blessed are they which hunger
and thirst after righteousness ; and this takes in all the children
of God, even to the least babe, that is newly born this day to
Christ. The new convert hungers after holiness, "and that sin-
cerely. And wherefore all this care so to lay the promises ? but
to shew that when we go to make use of any promise at the
throne of grace, we should not question oiir welcome for any of

our infirmities, so this stamp of sincerity be upon our hearts

Indeed if sincerity did not this much for the saint, there could
not be a prayer accepted of God at the hands of any saint that
ever was, or shall be, on earth to the end of the world, because
there never was, nor shall be such a saint dwelling in flesh here
below, in whom eminent failings may not be found. The apostle
would have us know that Elijah, who did as great wonders in
heaven and earth too by prayer, as who greater ? yet this man
God could soon have picked a hole in his coat. Indeed, lest we
attribute the prevalency of his prayers to the dignity of his per-
son, and some eminency which he had by himself in grace above
others, the Spirit of God telljs us, he was of the same make with

his

3$4 Having your Loins

his poor brethren : Eltjah tvas a man subject to like passimis as
we are, and he prayed, S^c. James v. ; a weak hand with a sin-
cere heart, is able to turn the key in prayer. ,

CHAP. VIIL

An Account why Sincerify covers the Saints Uncomelinesses,

Quest, VI OW follows the fourth query, Whence is it, that sin-
^ cerity thus covers our failings ?
SECT. I. — Reas* 1. It flows from the grace of the gospel-
covenant, that relaxeth the rigour of the law, which called for
complete obedience j by resolving all that into this of sinc^ity
and truth of heart. Thus God, when entering into covenant with
Abraham, expresseth himself. I am the Almighty God, walk
before me, and be thou perfect, or sincere. Gen. xvii. 1. As if
God had said unto him, Abraham, see here what I expect at thy
hands, and what thou mayest expect at mine. I look that thou
shouldst set me before thee, whom in thy whole course and walk-
ing thou wilt sincerely endeavour to please and approve thyself
to, and at my hands thou mayest promise thyself what an Al^
mighty God can do, both in protecting thee in thy obedience,
and pardoning of thee, where thou fallest short of perfect obe-
dience ; walk but in the truth of thy heart before me, and in
Christ, I will accept thee, and thy sincere endeavour, as kindly
as I would have done Adam, if he had kept his place in innocency,
and never sinned ; indeed a sincere heart by virtue of this cove-
nant might (I mean the covenant would bear him out, and de-
fend him in it, relying on Christ) converse with God, and walk
before him with as much freedom, and more familiarity, (by rea-
son of a nearer relation it hath) than ever Adam did, when God
and he were best friends. If our heart condemn us not, then
saith the apostle, we have confidence towards God, 1 John iii.
21. we have a boldness of face. And 'tis not the presence of sin
in us (as the covenant now stands), that conscience can, or (if
rightly informed concerning the tenure of it) will condemn us for;
Paul's conscience cleared him, yea, afforded matter of rejoicing,
and holy glorying at the same time, that he found sin stirring in
him. No, conscience is set by God to judge for him in the pri-
vate court of our own bosoms, and it is bound up by a law, what
sentence to give for, or against, and that in the same, by which
Christ himself will acquit or condemn the world at the last day.
Now when we go upon trial for our lives before Christ's bar,

the

Girl about with Truth, 385

the greatest inquest will be, whether we have been sincere or no ?
and as Christ will not then condemn the sincere soul, though %
thousand sins could be objected against it, so neither can our
hearts condemn us.

Q,uest, But here it may be asked, how comes God so favourable
in the covenant of the gospel, to accept an obedience so imperfect
at his saints hands, who was so strict with Adam in the first, that
the least failing, though but once escaping him, was to be ac-
counted unpardonable ?

Amw. The resolution of this question takes in these two par-
ticulars.

First, In the covenant God made with mankind in Adam, there
was no sponsor^ or suretj^, to stand bound to God for man's per-
formance of his part in the covenant (which was perfect obedi-
ence), and therefore God could do no other but stand strictly
with him ; because he had none else, from whom he might recover
his glory, and thereby pay himself for the wrong man's fault might
do to him : But in the gospel-covenant there is a surety, Christ
the righteous, who stands responsible to God for all the defaults
and failings which occur in the Christian's course. The Lord
Jesus doth not only take u^on him to discharge the vast sums of
those sins, which he finds them charged with before conversion ;
but for all those dribbling debts, which afterwards, through their
infirmity, they contract. If any man sirij we have an advocate
with the Father^ Jeaus Christ the righteous^ arid he is the pro"
pitiationfor our sins^ 1 John ii. 2., so that God may, without
any impeachment to his justice, cross his saints debts, which he is
paid for by their surety ; 'tis mercy indeed to the saints, but jus-
tice to Christ, that he should : O happy conjunction, where mercy
and justice thus conspire, and kiss each other !

Secondly, God did, and wt;ll might require full and perfect
obedience of man in the first covenant, because he was in a per-
fect state, of full power and ability to perform it, so that God
looked to reap no more than he had planted. But in the gospel-
covenant God doth not at first infuse into the believer full grace,
but true grace ; and .accordingly he expects not full obedience,
but sincere. He considers our frame, and every believer is (if I
may so say) rated in God's books, as the stock of grace is which
God gives him to set up withal at first.

SECT. II. — Reas, 2. The second reason may be taken from
the great love he bears, and liking he takes, to this disposition of
heart, upon which follows this act of grace, to cover their failings
where he spies it ; 'tis the nature of love to cover infirmities, even
to ^ multitude. Esther transgressed the law, by coming into
Ahasuerus's presence before she was sent for, but love soon
erected a pardon-office in the king's breast, to forgive her that

fault;

386 Having your Loins

fault ; and truly she did not find so much favour in the eyes of
that great monarch, as the sincere soul doth in the eyes of the
great God. He did not more delight in Esther's beauty, than
God doth in this, Prov. xi. 20. Such as nre upright in then' watj^
are Ms delight ; his soul closeth with that man, as one that suits
with the disposition of his own holy nature, one whose heart is
right with his heart ; and so with iufinite content to see a ray
of his own excellency sparkle in his creature, he delights in him,
and takes him by the hand, to lift him up into the boFO.n of his
love ; a better chariot, I trow, than that which Jehu preferred
Jehonadab to, for his faitlifulness to him. You seldom find any
spoken of as upriglit in the scripiure, that are passed over with a
plain naked inscription of their uprightness ; but some circum-
stance there is, which, like the costly work and curious engrav-
ing about some tombs, tell the passenger they are no ordinary
men that lie there. God, speaking of Job's uprightness, repre-
sents him as a nonsuch in his age. None like him in the earth,
a perfect man^ and upright ; mention was before made of his
vast estate, and in that also he was a nonsuch ; but when God
comes to glory over satan, by telling what a servant he had to
wait on him, he doth not count this worth telling the devil of:
Not, hast thou considered ray servant Job, .Job i. 8. that there is
none so rich ? but, none so upright. When God speaks of
Caleb's uprightness, see to what a height he exalts him. Numb,
xiv. 14. But my servant Caleb^ because he had another spirit
with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the
land^ &c. As if God had said. Here's a man I do not count myself
disparaged to own for my servant, and special favourite ; he is
one that carries more worth in him than the whole multitude of
murmuring Israelites besides ; he had another spirit, that is, for
excellency and nobleness far above the rest ; and wherein did
this appear ? The next words resolve us ; He hath follotved fue
fully : Now that which gained him this great honour from God's
own mouth, we shall find to be his sincerity, and especially in
that business when sent to search the land of Canaan, Joshua xiv.
7, and ver. 9. compared. He had great temptations to tell ano-
ther tale. The Israelites were so sick of their enterprize, that
he should be the welcoraest messenger that brought the worst
news, from which they might have some colour for their mur-
muring against Moses, who had brought them into such straits ;
and of twelve that were sent, there were ten that suited their an-
swer to this discontented humour of the people : so that by mak-
ing a contrary report to theirs, he did not only come under the
suspicion of a liar, but hazard his life among an enraged people ;
yet such was the courage of this holy man, faithfulness to his
trust, and trust in his God, that, as he saith himself, ver. 7. He

brought

J

Girt about with TruiJt. 387

hrought him (that is, Moses who had sent him) word again^ as it
was in his heart ; that is, he did not for fear or favour accommo*
date himself, but what in his conscience he thought true, that he
spake ; and this, because it was such an eminent proof of hia
sincerity, is called by Moses, ver. i).followitig God full^ ) f6r
which the Lord erects such a pillar of remembrauee over his
head, that shall stand as long asthat scripture it^elfi! To give Out.
one instance more, and that is of Nathaniel, at first sight of vvhoia*
Christ cannot forbear, but lets all about hiih know how liighly he-
was in his favour. ' Behold Csaith he of him) an Israelite iiu
deed^ in whom there is no quile^Joim i. 47. Christ's heart (like
the babe in Elizabeth's womb, when Mary saluted her) seemied
thus to leap at the coming of Nathaniel, yea, comes forth in this
expression, not to flatter him into an over- weening conceit of him-
self (Christ knew what an humble soul he spake to), but to bear
witness to his own grace in him, especially this of sincerity ; that
knowing what a high price and value heaven sets upon the head
of this grace, they might like wise merchants store themselves
with it more abundantly ; his simplicity of heart made him an
Israelite indeed ; many goodly shews and pompous outsides were
to be seen among the Pharisees, but they were a company of base
projectors and designers. Ji^ven when some of them came to
Christ, extolling him for his sincerity, Master^ we know thou art
true^ and teachest the way of God in truth, Matt, xxii. 16. then
did they play the hypocrites, and had a plot to decoy him by
their glossing speech into danger ; as you may perceive, ver. 15.
They came that they might entangle him ; but good Nathaniel
had no plot in his head, in his coming, but to find the Messiah he
looked for, and eternal life by him j and therefore, though he
was for the present wrapped up in that common errror of the
times, that no prophet could come out of Galilee^ John vii. 52.
much less so great a one as the J^lessiah, out of such an obscure
place in Galilee as Nazareth ; yet Christ, seeing the honesty and
uprightness of his heart, doth notsuflf'er his ignorance and error
to prejudice him in his thoughts of him.

SECT. Ill Now to give some accounty why this grace of

sincerity is so taking with, and delightful to God, that it even
captivates him in love to the soul where he finds it. There are
two things which are the inseparable companions of sinceritj^,
yea, effects flowing ironi it, that aie very taking to draw love
both from God and man. . :ii;ijj -

First, Sincerity makes the soul willing. Wheh 'tis clogged
with so many infirmities, as to disable it from the full performance
of its duty, yet then the soul stands on tip-toe» to be gone after
it ; as the hawk upon the hand, as soon as ever it sees her game,
launcheth forth, and would be upon the wing after it, though

B b possibly

ft

388 Having your Loins

possibly held by its sheath to the fist : Thus the sincere soni is
inwardly pricked and provoked by a strong desire after its dut}^
though kept back by infirmities ; a perfect heart and a willing
mind are joined together, 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. 'Tis David's coun-
sel to his son Solomon, to serve God with a perfect heart, and a
willing mind. A false heart is a shifting heart, puts off its work
so long as it dares, and 'tis little thanks to set about it when the
i-od is taken down ; yet hypocrites are like tops that go no longer
than they are whipt 5 but the sincere soul is ready and forward :
it doth not want will to do a duty, when it wants skill and
strength how to do it. The Levites (2 Chron. xxix. 34.) are
said to be more upright in heart, to sanctify themselves^ than the
Priests were. How appeared that ? In this, that they were more
forward and willing to the work. No sooner did the w^ord come
out of the good king's mouth, concerning a reformation, ver. 10.
but presently the Levites arose to sanctify themselves ; but some
of the priests had not such a mind to the business, and therefore
were not so soon ready, ver, 34. shewing more policy than piety
therein, as if they would stay and see first how the times would
prove, before they would engage. Reformation-work is but an
icy path, which cowardly spirits love to have well beaten by
others, before they dare come on it : But sincerity is of better
metal : like the true traveller, that no weather shall keep from
going his journey when set, the upright man looks not at the
clouds, stands not thinking of this or that to discourage him, but
takes his warrant from the word of God, and having that, noth-
ing but a countermand from the same God that sets him at work,
shall turn him back. His heart is uniform to the will of God.
If God saith, seek my face^ it rebounds and echoes back again,
thy face will 1 seek. Yea, Lord, as if David had said with
a good will, thy word is press-money enough to carry me from
this duty to that, whither thou pleasest. May be, when the sin-
cere soul is about a duty, he doth it weakly j yet this very wil-
lingness of the heart is wonderfully pleasing to God. How doth
it affect and take the father, when he bids his little child go and
bring him such a thing (that may be as much as he can well lift)
to see him not stand and shrug at the command as hard, but run
to it, and put forth his whole strength about it (though at last
may be he cannot do it), yet the willingness of the child pleaseth
him so, that his weakness rather stirs up the father to pity and
help him, than to provoke him to chide him. Christ throws this
covering over his disciples' infirmities : the spirit is willing^ hut
thejleshr is weak. O I this obedience, that, like the dropping
honey, comes without squeezing, though but little of it, tastes
sweetly on God's palate, and such is sincere obedience.

Secondly, Sincerity makes the soul very open and free to God :

Though

Girt about with Truth, 389

Though the sincere soul hath many inlirmlties, yet it desires to
cloak and hide none of them from God ; no, if it could, it would
not ; and this is that which delights God exceedingly. To be
sure, he'll cover what such a soul uncovers, 1 John i. 12. IfiCG
confess our sins, he is just and faithful to forgive.

it was a high piece of ingenuity and clemency in Augustus,
that having promised by a proclamation a great sum of money, to
any that should bring him the head of a famous pirate, did yet
when the pirate (who had heard of this) brought it himself to
him, aud laid it at his foot, not only pardon him for his former
ofFeuces against him, but reward him for his great confidence iu
his mercy. Truly thus doth God ; though his wrath be revealed
against all sin and unrighteousness, yet when the soul itself conies
freely and humbles itself before him, he cannot stretch forth his
arm to strike that soul which gives such glory to his mercy ; and
this the siacere heart doth. Indeed the hypocrite, when he has
sinned, hides it, as Acban his wedge of gold j he sits brooding on
his lust, as Rachel on her father^ s idols^ It is as hard getting a
hen oiF her nest, as such a one to come oft* his lusts, and disclose
them freely to God, If God himself find him not out, he will not
bewray himself. I cannot set out the different disposition of the
sincere and false heart in this matter, better than by the like ia
a mercenary servant, and a child j when a servant (except it be
one of a thousand) breaks a glass, or spoils any of his master's
goods, all his care is to hide it from his master, and therefore
throws the pieces of it away into some dark hole or corner, where
he thinks they shall never be found ; and now he is not troubled
for the wrong he hath done his master, but glad that he hath
handled the matter so as not to be discovered. Thus the hypo-
crite would count himself a happy man, could" he but lay his sin
out of God's sight : it is not the treason he dislikes, but fears to
be known that he is the traitor j and therefore though it be as
unfeasible to blind the eye of the Almighty, as with opr hand to
cover the face of the sun, that it should not shine, yet the hypo-
crite will attempt it. We find a woe denounced against such,
Isa. xxix. 15. Woe unfo them that dig deep to hide their counsel
from the JLord, This is a sort of sinners whose care is not to
make their peace when they have offended, but to hold their
peace, and stand demurely before God, as Gehazi before his maso
ter, as if they been no where but where they should be. These
are they whom God will put to shame to purpose. The Jews
were far gone in this hypocrisy, when they justified themselves as
a holy people, and put God so hard to itj as to make him prove
his charge, rather than confess what was too true and apparent ;
which God upbraids them for, Jer. ii. 23. How canst thou sai/j
J. am not polluted 9 I have not gone after Balaam ; see thif way

B b 2 in

390 Having ijour Lioim

in the valley^ and know what thou, hast done, Ha3t thou such a
whorish forehead to justify thyself, and hypocritical heart to draw
a fair cover over so foul practices ; would you yet pass for saints,
and be thought a people unpolluted ? now mark, 'tis not long,
but this hypocritical people, that thus hid their sin, hath shame
enough : As the thief is ashamed when he is founds saith the pro-
phet, ver. 26. so is the house of Israel ashamed ; that is, as
the thief, who at first is so insolent, as to deny the fact he is ac-
cused of, yet when, upon search, the stolen goods are found about
him, and he brought to justice for it, then he is put to double
shame for his theft, and impudence also in justifying himself; so
is it with this people (and with all hypocrites), though, while in
peace, and at ease, they brag and are bold, yea, seem to scorn to
be thought what they indeed are ; yet there is a time coming
(which, ver. 24. is called, their month wherein they shall he
found) when God's hue and cry shall overtake them, his terrors
ransack their consciences, and. bring forth what they so stiffly
denied, making it appear to themselves and others also, what
juggling and deceit they have used to shift oflf their sin. It is
easy to think what shame will cover their faces, and weigh down
their heads while this is doing. God loves to befool those who
think they play their game so wisely, because, with Ahab, they
fight against God in a disguise, and will not be known to be the
man. But the sincere soul takes another course, and speeds bet-
ter ; as a child, when he hath committed a fault, doth not stay
till others go, and tell his father what the matter is, nor till his
father makes it appear by his frowning countenance that it is come
to his ear, but freely, and of his own accord, goes presently to his
father (being prompted by no other thing than the love he bears
to his dear father, and the sorrow with which his heart grows
every moment he stays, bigger and bigger withal for his offence),
and easeth his aching heart, by a free and full confession of his
fault at his father's foot ; and thus, with plain-heartedness, giving
his offence the weight of every aggravating circumstance, so that
if the devil himself should come after him to glean up what he
hath left, he would hardly find wherewithal to make it appear
blacker : Thus doth the sincere soul to God, adding to his sim-
plicity in confession of his sin, such a flow of sorrow, that God,
seeing his dear child in such danger of being carried down too far
towards despair, (if good news from him come not speedily to stay
him), cannot but tune his voice, rather into a strain of comforting
him in his mourning, than chiding him for bis sin.

CHAP.

Gtrt about with Truth, 3^1

CHAP. IX.

Of the odious Nature of Htjpocrisy^ and Hatefulness of it to

God.

Use 1. r\OTH sincerity cover all defects? Then hypocrisy un-
*-^ covers the soul, and strips it naked to its shame be-
fore God, when set forth with the richest embroidery of other
excellencies. This is such a scab, that frets into the choicest
perfections, and alters the complexion of the soul in God*s eye,
more than leprosy or pox can do to the fairest face in ours. It is
observable, the different character that is given of those two kings
of Judah, Asa and Amaziah. Of the first, see I Kings xv. 14.
jT/ie high places were not removed, nevertheless Asa his heart
u^as perfect with the Lord all his day. He passeth current for
a, gracious person, and that with a mm obstante, nevertheless his
heart was perfect ; sincerit)'^, like true gold, hath grains allowed
for its lightness ; his infirmities are not mentioned to stain his
honour, and prejudice him in the opinion of any ; but rather as
the wart or mole, which the curious limner expresseth on purpose,
the more to set forth the beauty of the other parts : so his failings
are recorded to cast a greater lustre upon his sincerity ; which
could, notwithstanding these sins, gain nim such a testimony from
God's own mouth. But of Amaziah, see 2 Chron. xxv. 2. He
did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a
perfect heart. The matter of his actions was good, but the scope
and drift of his heart in them was naught, and this but makes a
foul blot upon all, and turns his right into wrong; wherein his
hypocrisy appeared is expressed, 2 Kings xiv. 3. He did that
which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his
father, he did according to all things that Joash his father did.
He did for a while what David did, as to the matter, but imi-
tated Joash, as to the manner, whose goodness was calculated to
please man rather than God, as appeared in the latter end of his
reign upon the death of his good uncle Jehoiada ; him did Ama-
ziah write after, and not David in his uprightness ; thus we see
Asa, his uprightness saves him in the midst of many failings ; but
hypocrisy condemns Amaziah doing that which is right. Sin-
cerity, it is the life of all our graces, and puts life into all our
duties ; and as life makes beautiful, and keeps the body sweet,
so sincerity the soul, and all it doth. A prayer breathed from a
sincere heart, it is heaven's delight ; take away sincerity, and
God saith of it, as Abraham of Sarah (whom living, he loved
dearly, and laid in his bosom), Burtf the dead out of my sight ;
he hides his eye, stops his nostril, as when some poisonous carrioa

B b 3 is

392 ' Having your Loins

is before us. Bring no more vain oblations, incense is ahomina"
tion to me ; the calling of your assemblies 1 cannot away with 3
your appoiiUed feasts my soul hatcth, they are a trouble to me,
lam weary to bear them. What stinking thing is this that God
cries so out upon ? It is nothing but hypocrisy. Surely, friends,
that must needs be very loathsome, which makes God speak so
coarsely of his own ordinances, yea, makes them a Nebushtan,
prayer no prayer, but a mere idol to be broken in pieces j faith
no faith, but a fancy and a delusion ; repentance no repentance,
but a loud lie, Psalm Ixxviii. 34. They returned, and enqmt^ed
early after God ; see how the spirit of God glosseth upon this,
ver. 36, 37. Nevertheless they did Jiatter with their lips, and
they lied unto him with their tongues, for their heart was not
right with him. It smoked God out of his own house, and made
him out of love with that place, whereof he had said, it should
be his resting place for ever.

It brought the wrath of God upon that unhappy people to the
uttermost ; mark how the commission runs, which God gave the
Assyrian, who was the bloody executioner of his fierce wrath upon
them, Isa. x. 5, 6. O Assyrian^ the rod of my anger ^ and the
staff in their hand is mine indignation, I will send him against
an hypocritical nation., and against the people of my wrath will
I give him a charge to take the spoils and to take the prey ^ and
to tread them down as mire in the street* See Jer. vii. 10, 11, .
12, 13, ver. There needs not the coroner to be sent for, or a
jury go upon this miserable people, to find out how they came to
their dismal end ; they were an hypocritical nation, that was it
they died of. God had rather see the abomination of desolation
standing in his temple, making havock of all, than the abomina-
tion of dissimulation mocking him to his face, while they worship
him with their lips, and their lusts with their hearts. Of the
two, 'tis more tolerable, in God's account, to see a Belshazzar,
tJiat never had a name of being his servant, to quaif and carouze
it to his gods, prophanely, in the bowels of the sanctuary, than
for a people that would pass for his servants, to pollute them in
his own worship, by their cursed hypocrisy : If God be disho-
noured, woe to that man, of all, that doth it under a shew of ho-
nouring him. God singles out the hypocrite, as that sort of sin-
ner, whom he would deal with hand to hand, and set himself,
even in this life, to bear witness against, in a more extraordinary
manner than others. The thief, murderer, and other the like
sinners, provision is made by God, that the magistrate should
meet with them ; they come under his cognizance ; but the hy-
pocrite, he is one that sins more secretly. God alone is able to
find him out, and he hath undertaken it, Ezek. xiv. 7. For every
one of the house of Israel , tvhich separated himself from me., and

, settelh

Girt about with Truth. 393

setteth up his idols in his hearty and cometh to a prophet, to cw-
qiiire of him concerning me [an excellent description of a hypo-
crite ; he is one that denies God his heart, reserving it for idols,
or his lust, yet is as forward as any to enquire after God in his
ordinances] ; I the Lord will answer him by mystlf. And how
shall he answer him ? And 1 will set my face agaimt that man,
and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I mil cut him off
from the midst of my people^ and ye shall know that 1 am the
Lord^ ver. 8. That is, my judgments shall be so i^markable on
him, that he shall be a spectacle of my wrath for others to see,
and speak of. Thus God pays the hypocrites often in this life,
as Ananias and Saphira, who died by the hand of God with a lie
sticking in their tliroats ; and Judas, who purchased nothing by
his hypocritical trade, but a halter to hang himself withal ; his
playing the hypocrite with Christ ended in his playing the devil
upon himself, when he became his own executioner. But if the
hypocrite at any time steals out of the world, before his vizard
falls off, and the wrath of God falls on him, it will meet him sure
enough in hell, and it will be poor comfort to him there, to think
how he hath cheated his neighbours, in arriving at hell, whom
they so confidently thought under sail for heaven. The good
opinion which he hath left of himself in those that are on earth,
will cool no flames for him in hell, where lodgings are taken up,
and bespoke for the hypocrite, as the chief guest expected in that
infernal court ; all other sinners seem but as younger brethren in
damnation to the hypocrite, under whom, as the great heir, they
receive every one their portion of wrath, bequeathed to them by
the justice of God, Matt. xxiv. 51. there the evil servant is threa-
tened by his master, that he will cut him asunder^ and appoint
him his portion with hypocrites*

Quest, But why should God be so angry with the hypocrite ?
He seems a tame creature to other sinners, that like wild beasts
rage and rave, not fearing to open their mouth like so many
wolves, against heaven, as if they would tear God out of his
throne by their blasphemies and horrid impieties. The hypocrite
is not thus loaded with impudence, to sin at noon-day, and spread
his tent with Absalom on the house-top : If he be naught, it is ia
a corner, his maiden-blush modesty will not suffer him to declare
his sin, and be seen in the company of it abroad ; nay, he denies
kimself of many sins, which others maintain ; and walks in exer-
cise of many duties, which the atheistical spirits of the world
deride and scorn : Why then should the hypocrite, that lives like
a saint to others, be more distasteful to him ?

Ans. Indeed the hypocrite at first blush may be taken for a
kind of saint, by such as see only his outside, as he passeth by in
his holiday dress, which he is beholden to, for all the reputation

394 . Having your Loins

he bath in the thoughts of others, and therefore is fitly by one
called the stranger's saint, but a devil to those that know him
.better: He is like some cunning cripple, that is fain to borrow
help from art, to hide the defects of nature; such as false hair
to cover his baldness, an artificial eye to cover his blindness from
others sight; and the like for other parts: Here is much ado
made to commend him for some beautiful person to others ; but
what a monster would this man appear, should one but see him
through the key-hole, as he is in his bed-chamber, where all these
are laid aside ? Truly^^^uch a one, and far more scareful, would the
hypocrite be found^ ivben out of his acting robes, which he makes
use of only when he comes forth upon the stage, to play the part
of a saint before others. It were enough to affright us, only to
see the hypocrite uncased ; what then will it be to himself, when
he shall be laid open before men and angels ? So odious this ge-
neration is to God, that it is not safe standing near them ! Moses,
that knew Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, better than the people,
who, taken with their seeming zeal, flocked after them in throngs,
commands them to depart from the tents of those wicked men,
except they had a mind to be consumed with them ; such horrid
hypocrisy he expected vengeance would soon overtake. But
that it may appear to be a sin exceeding sinful, I shall give a few
aggravations of it, in which so many reasons will be wrapt, why
it is so odious to God.

First, Hypocrisy is a sin that offers violence to the very light
of nature : that light which convinceth us there is a God, tells us
he is to be served, and that in truth also, or all is to no purpose.
A lie is a sin that would fly in the face of a heathen, and hy-
pocrisy is the loudest lie, because it is given to God himself ; so
i*eter told that dissembling « wretch. Acts v. 3. Why hath satan
filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost 9 v. 4. thou hast lied not
to man^ but unto God.

Secondly, Hypocrisy cannot so properly be said to be one single
sin, as the sinfulness of other sins ; it is among sins, as sincerity
among graces ; now that is not one grace, but an ornament, that
beautifies and^graces all other graces. The preciousness oi faith
;is, that it is unfeighed, and of love, to be without dissimulation.
Thus the odiousness of sin is, when they are committed in hy-
pocrisy. David aggravates the sin of those jeering companions,
who made him their table-talk, and could not taste their cheer,
except seasoned with some salt jest quibbled out at him, with this,
that they were hypocritical mockers^ Psalm xxxv. 16. ; they did
it slily, and wrapt up their scoffs ('tis like) in such language as
J might make some think (who did not well observe them) that
, they applauded him. There is a way of commending, which
some have learned to use, when they mean to cast the greatest

scorn

%

^

Girt about with Truth. 395

scorn upon those they hate bitterly^ and these hypocritical mock-
ers deserve the chair to be given them from all other scorners.— •
Fevers are counted malignant according to the degree of putre-
faction that is in them. Hypocrisy is the very putrefaction and
rottenness of the heart ; the more of this putrid stuff there is in
any sin, the more malignant it is. David speaks of the iniquity
of his sin, Psahn xxxii. 5. I acJcnowledge my sin unto thee^ and
mine iniquity have I not hid ; laaid^ I will cwifess my transgres-
sions unto the Lord^ and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
This sin seems very probably to have been his adultery with
JBathsheba, and murder of Uriah, by his long keeping silence^
ver. 3. by the pardon he had immediately given him upon con-
fessing^ ver. 5. which we know Nathan delivered to him, and by
his further purpose to continue confessing of it, which appeared
by the mournful Psalm (the li.) that followed upon his discourse
with Nathan. Now David, to make the pardoning mercy of God
more illustrious, saith he did not only forgive his sin, but the ini-
quity of his sin ; and what was that ? Surely the worst that can be
said of his complicated sin, is, that there was so much hypocrisy
in it, he woefully juggled with God and man in it ; this, 1 do not
doubt to say, was the iniquity of his sin, and put a colour deeper
on than the blood which he shed. And the rather I lay the ac-
cent there, because God himself, when he would set out the hei-
nousness of this sin, seems to do it rather ' from the hypocrisy in
the fact, than the fact itself, as appears by the testimony givea
this holy man, 1 Kings xv. 5. David did that which was right
in the eyes of the Lot^d, and turned not aside from any thing
that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the
matter of Uriah the Hittite. Were there not other wry steps
that David took besides this ? Doth the Spirit of God, by ex-
cepting this, declare his approbation of all else that he ever did ?
No sure, the Spirit of God records other sins, that escaped this
eminent servant of the Lord ; but all those are drowned here, and
this mentioned, as the only stain of his life. But why? surely
because there appeared less sincerity, yea, more hypocrisy in this
one sin, than in all his other put together : though David in theta
was wrong as to the matter of his actions, yet his heart was more
right in the manner of committing them. But here his sincerity
was sadly wounded, though not to the total destruction of the
habit, yet to lay it in a long swoon, as to any actings thereof.
And truly the wound went very deep, when that grace was stab-
bed in which did run the life-blood of all the rest. "We see, then,
God hath reason (though his mercy prompted him, yea, his co-
venant obliged him, not to let his child die of this wound, I
mean finally miscarry of this sin, either through want of repen-
tance on the one hand, or pardoning mercy on the other) so to

heal

396 Having your Zioms

heal It, that a scar might remain upon the place, a mark upon
the sin, whereby others might know how odious hypocrisy is to
God.

Thirdly, Those considerations which may seem at first to lessen,
and pare off something from the heinousuess of the hypocrite's
sin, viz. That he walks in a religious habit, hath a form of piety
which others want, performs duties which others neglect; these
and the like are so far from taking from, that they add a further
weight of aggravation to it. Let us consider the hypocrite in a
two-fold respect, and this will appear, either in things he trades
about ; or, secondly, in the things he lays claim to, as relation to
God, interest in Christ, consolations of the Spirit, and the like ;
these are things of high price ; a miscarriage about these must be
somewhat suitable to their high nature. As is the wool, so the
thread and cloth, coarse or fine. The prophane person pretends
not to these, he cannot spin so fine a thread, because the work
he deals in is coarser ; all bis impieties will not have so high a
price of wrath set upon them, which he hath (being ignorant of
God, and a stranger to the ways of God) committed, as the hy-
pocrite's.

SECT, I. — First, The hypocrite trades in the duties of God's
worship. Judas sits down with the rest of the apostles at the
passever, and bids himself welcome as confidently, as if he were
the best guest, the holiest of all the company. The proud pha-
risee gets to' the temple as soon as the broken-hearted publican :
but what work doth the hypocrite make with these things ? that
would be known indeed. Sad work, the Lord knows, or else
God would not so abominate them, as to think he hears a dog
bark, or a wolf howl all the while they are praying. We think
David had a curious hand at the harp, that could pacify the evil
raging spirit of melancholy Saul ; but what a harsh unhappy
stroke have they in the duties of God's worship, that are able
to make the sweet meek Spirit of God angry, yea, break out
into fury against them ! And no wonder, if we consider but these
two things.

1. The hypocrite does no less than mock God in all his duties,
and of all things God can least bear that ; God will not be mock~
ed. Christ preached his doctrine when he cursed the fig-tree,
which did by her green leaves mock the passenger, making hiin
come for fruit, and go away without any ; had it wanted leaves,
as well as fruit, it had escaped that curse. Every lie is a mock-
ing of him to whom it is told ; because such a one goes to cheat
him, and thereby pnts the fool upon him : Whi^ hast thou mocked
me (said Dalilah to Sampson), and told me lies f Judg. xvi. 10. as
if she had said (as is usual upon the like with us). Do you make
a fool of me ? I leave it to the hypocrites to think seriously

what

Girt about with Truth, 39?

what he is going to make of God, when he puts up his hypocri-
tical services. God*s command was, none should appear before
him empty : this the hypocrite doth, and therefore mocks God ;
he comes indeed full-mouthed, but empty-hearted. As to the
formality of a duty, he oft exceeds the sincere Christian ; he, if
any, may truly be called a master of ceremonies ; because all
that he entertains God with in duty, lies in the courtship of his
tongue and knee. How abhorrent this is to God, may easily be
judged by the disdain which even a wise man would express to be
so served ; better to pretend no kindness, than pretending to in-
tend none ; it is the heart God looks at in duty : if the wine be
good, he can drink it out of a wooden cup ; but let the cup be
never so gilded, and no wine in it, he makes account that mau
mocks him, that would put it into his hand. It was Christ's
charge against Sardis, Rev. iii. 2. / have not found thy works
perfect before God ; I have not found thera fitll before God^ as
the original hath it. Sincerity fills our duty, and all our actions ;
and mark that phrase, before Gody which implies that this church
retained such an outward form of devotion, as might keep up her
credit before men ; she had a name to live, but her works were
not full before God ; he pierced them deeper than man's probe
could go, and judgeth her by what he found her within.

2. The hypocrite performs the duties of God's worship on some
base design or other, and this makes him yet more abominable to
God, who disdains to have his holy ordinances prostituted to
serve the hypocrite's lust, only used as a stream to turn about his
mill, and handsomely effect his carnal projects. When Absalom
had formed his plot within his own natural bosom, and was big
with his treason, as ever cockatrice was with her poisonous
eggs; to Hebron he goes in all haste, and that, forsooth, to pay
an old vow, which in the time of his affliction he made to the
Lord, 2 Sam. xv. 10, 11. Who would not think the man was
grown honest, when he begins to think of paying his old debts ?
But the wretch meant nothing less ; his errand thither was to lay
his treason under the warm wing of religion, that the reputation
he should gain thereby might help the sooner to hatch it. And
I wish that as Absalom died without a son to keep his name in
remembrance, so that none had been left behind to inherit his
cursed hypocrisy, that the world might have grown into a happy
ignorance of so monstrous a sin ; but alas, this is but a vain wish ;
this kind of hypocrisy yet lives, yea, comes as boldly to out-face
God in his worship as ever ; many making no better use of the
exercise of it, than some do of their sedans, to carry them unseen
to the enjoyment of their lust. And is it any wonder, that God,
who hath appointed his ordinances for such high and holy ends,
should abhor the hypocrite, who thus debaseth them in the ser-
vice

398 Having your Ziotns

vice of the devil ? Did you invite some to a costly feast at yoiil*
house, who, instead of feeding on the dainties you had provided
for thera, should take and throw all to their dogs under the table,
how would you like your guest ? The hypocrite is he that casts
God's holy things to his dogs. God invites us to his ordinances,
as to a rich feast, where he is ready to entertain us, in siweet
communion with himself; what horrid impiety is it then that the
hypocrite commits ? who, when he is set at God's table, feeds
not of these dainties himself, but throws all to his lusts, some to
his pride, and some to his covetousness ; propounding to. himself
no other end in coming to them, than to make provision for these
lusts, as Hamor and Sechem his son, who, when they would per-
suade the people of their city to submit to circumcision, used this
as the great argument to move them, that they should grow rich
by the hand. If every male among us be circumcised j as they
are circumcised^ shall not their cattle and their substance, and
every beast of theirs, be ours? Gen. xxxiv. 21, 22. A goodly
argument was it not, in business of such a high nature, as coming
under a solemn ordinance ? They rather speak as if they were
going to a horse-market, or cow-fair, than to a religious duty.
Truly, though most hypocrites have more wit, than thus to
print their thoughts, and let the world read what is writ in
their hearts ; yet as Queen Mary said of Calais, if she were ript
up, it would be found in her heart ; so some such low things, as
vain-glory, worldly profit, &c. would be found engraven in the
breast of all hypocrites, as that they most aim at in the duties of
religion.

SECT. II. — Secondly, Consider the hypocrite in the things
he lays claim to, and they were no small privileges ; relation to
God, interest in Christ. Who is more forward to saint himself,
to pretend to the graces and comforts of the spirit, than the hy-
pocrite ? As we see in the Pharisees, whose great design was to
get a name, and that not such as the great ones of the earth have,
for prowess, worldly majesty, and the like, but for sanctity and
holiness ; and they had it, if it would do them any good. Verity^
saith Christ, they have their reward^ Mat. vi. 2. They would
be taken for great saints, and so they are by the multitude, who
did so applaud them for their holiness, which faced their outside,
that they had a proverb, If but two could be saved, one of the
two should be a pharisee. We read of some that profess they
know God, but in works they deny him^ Tit. i. 16. They boldly
brag of their acquaintance with God, and would be thought great
favourites of his, though their lives are antipodes to heaven : so.
Rev. iii. 9. we meet with some that say they are Jews^ and are
not^ but lie. They dwell sure by ill neighbours ; none would say
so much for them, but themselves j the hypocrite is so ambitious

to

Girt about with Truth. 39^

tt) pass for a saint, that he commonly is a greater censurer of the
true graces of others, as too much hindering the prospect of his
own ; like Herod, who (as Eusebius writes), being troubled at
the baseness of his own birth, bnrnt the ancient genealogies of
the Jews, the better to defend his own pretended noble descent.
Who now is able to give a full accent to this high-climbing sin
of hypocrisy ? It is a sin that highly reproacheth God, to have
such a vile wretch claim kindred with him. Christ indeed is not
ashamed to call the poorest saints brethren, but he disdains to
have his name seen upon a rotten-hearted hypocrite ; as princes
to have their effigies stamped on base metals : What scorn was
put upon that mock prince, Perkin Warbeck, who having got
some fragments of courtship, and being tutored how to act his
part, was presented to the world as Edward IV. of this nation ;
but when he had aped a-while the state of a prince, he was taken,
and with his base ignoble pedigree, wrote in large letters, and
pinned at his back, was sent about, that wherever he came, he
might carry his shame with him, till in the end he was sent to
act the last part of his play at the gallows ! But what is all this
to the hypocrite's portion, who, for abusing others here with a
seeming sanctity, as if indeed he was of heavenly extractipn, a
child of God, and heir of glory, shall be brought at the great day
to be hissed at by men and angels, and after he hath been put to
this open shame, be thrown deepest into hell. Of all sinners, he
doth most mischief in this world, and therefore shall have most
torment in the other. There is a double mischief which none
are so likely to be guilty of as the hypocrite, by his seeming saint-
ship. The one he doth while his credit holds, and he passeth
for a child of God in the opinion of his neighbours ; the other,
when his reputation is cracked, and he discovered to be what he
is, a hypocrite. The mischief he doth when his mask is on, is,
as a deceiver : Machiavel knew what he did in commending to
princes a resemblance of religion, though he forbad any more,—
It hath been found the most taking bait, to decoy people into
their snare, who come in apace, when religion is the flag that is
set up. Ehud could not have thought on a surer key to open all
doors, and procure him admittance into King Eglon's presence,
than to give out he had a message from the Lord to him ; this
raised such an expectation, and bred such a confidence, that room
is made for him ; presently all depart, and he is left alone with
the king ; yea, the king will rise to hear his message that comes
from the Lord, and so gives him a greater advantage to run him
into the guts. Had not some in our days pretended highly to
saintship, I doubt not but they would have found the door shut,
where now they have too much welcome, and find it easy to pro-
cure belief to their errors. Even the elect are in some danger,

when

400 Having your Loins

when one cried up for a saint, is the messenger that brings the
error to town, and that under the notion of a message from God.
I confess the hypocrite acts his part so handsomely, that he may
do some good accidentally ; his glistering profession, heavenly
discourse, excellent gifts in prayer or preaching, may affect much
the sincere soul, and be an occasion of real good to his soul j as
the stage-player, though his tears be counterfeit, may stir up, by
his seemiug passion, real sorrow in his spectators, so as to make
them weep in earnest ; thus the hypocrite, acting his part with
false affections, may be a means to draw forth and excite the
Christian's true graces ; but then is such a one much more in
danger to be ensnared by his error, because he will not be readily
suspicious oF any thing that he brings, whom he hath found really
helpful to his grace or comfort ; and thus the good the hypocrite
doth, makes him but able to do the greater hurt in the end. Sisera
had better have gone without Jaei's butter and milk, than by
them to belaid asleep against she came with her nail ; and it had
been far happier for many in our days, not to have tasted of the
gifts and seeming graces of some, than to have been so taken with
this sweet wine, as to drink themselves drunk into an admiration
of their persons, which hath laid them asleep, and thereby given
them, whom they have applauded so much, but advantage the
more easily to fasten their nail to their heads — errors, I mean, to
their judgments. The other mischief the hypocrite doth, is,
when discovered, and that is, as he is a scandal to the ways of
God, and servants of God. It is said of Sampson, The dead
tvhich he slew at his deaths vere more than thet/ which he slew
in his life^ Judg, xvi. 30. Truly the hypocrite doth more hurt
when he is discovered, which is the death of his profession, than
when he seemed to be alive. The wicked worldlings, who are
not long seeking a staff to beat the saints with, have now one put
into their hands by the hypocrite. O how they can run division
upon this harsh note, and besmear the face of all professors with
the dirt they see upon one false brother's coat, as if they could
take the length of all their feet by the measure of one hypocrite I
Hence comes such base language as this : They are all of a pack,
not one better than another. Indeed this is very absurd reason-
ing i as if one should say, no coin were current, and right silver,
because now and then a brass shilling is found among the rest ;
but this language fits the mouth of the ungodly world ; and woe
be to the man that makes these arrows for them by his hypocrisy,
which they shoot against the saints ! Better he had been throivn
with a millstone about his neck into the sea, than have lived to
give such an occasion for the enemy to blaspheme !

CHAP.

Oir^ about with Truth, 401

CHAP. X.

Where all are stirred up to put themselves upon the Tri'alj whe^
ther sincere or tiot ; three Arguments used to provoke to the
Work ; and four false Characters^ by which the Hypocrite
Jlatters himself into a Conceit of being Upright.

Use 2. ^ECONDLY, Doth sincerity cover all a saiut's infir-.
V mities ? this shews how needful it is for every one to
try his ways, and search narrowly his heart, whether he be sin-
cere or hypocritical.

SECT. I. — First, All depends on it, even all thou art worth
in another world ; it is thy making or marring for ever ; Psalm
cxxv. 5. Do good, O Lord, to them that are upright in heart ;
a^for such as turn aside to crooked waijs^ the Lord will lead
them forth with theivorkers of iniquity ; that is the end the hy-
pocrite is sure to come to j he would indeed then fain pass for a
saint, and crowd in among the godly, but God shall lead him
forthwith the worker's of iniquity^ company that better befits
him ; 'tis sincerity shall carry it in that day. livill come (saitli
Paul, 1 Cor. iv. ID.) to you shortly^ and will hiow, not the speech
of them that are puffed up, but the power ; for the kingdom of
God is not in word^ but power. What tvill ye 9 shall I come
unto you with a rody or in love ? O friends, not Paul, but Christ
will shortly come unto us, and he will know not the speech and
soothing language of such as are puffed up with an empty name
of profession, but will know the power, gauge the heart, and see
what is in it : now will ye that he come with a rod, or in love ?
to judge you as hypocrites, or to give you the ejige of a faithful
servant ? Doth not he spend his time ill, that takes pains in his
trade, and lays out all his stock on such a commodity, which,
when he opens his stall, will be seized for false ware, and he clap-
ped up for abusing the country ! All that ever the hypocrite
did, will in the great day of Christ be found counterfeit, and he
be sure to be laid by the heels in hell, for going about to cheat
God and man ; every man's works shall then be manifest ; "that
day shall declare it. Eveu the sincere Christian, where he hath
tampered with hypocrisy, shall lose that his work ; but the hy-
pocrite, with his work, his soul also.

Secondly, Consider, hypocrisy lies close in the heart ; if thou
beest not very careful, thou mayest easily pass a false judgment
on thyself; they who were sent to search the cellar under the
Parliament, at first saw nothing but coals and winter-provision ;

but

40S Having your Loins

but upon a review, when they came to throw away t.iat stuff,
they found all but provision for the devil's kitchen ; then the
mystery of iniquity was uncased, and the barrels of powder ap-
peared. How many are there that, from some duties of piety
they perform, some seeming zeal they express in profession,
presently cry, o?nma bene, and are so kind to themselves,
as to vote themselves good Christians, who, did they but
take the pains to throw these aside, they might find a foul
hypocrite at the bottom of them all ; hypocrisy often takes up
her lodging next door to sincerity, and so she passes unfouud, the
soul not suspecting hell can be so near heaven. And as hy-
pocrisy, so sincerity is hard to be discovered ; this grace often
lies low in the heart (like the sweet violet in some valley, or near
some brook), hid with thorns and nettles, infirmities I mean ; so
that there requires both care and wisdom, that we neither let
the weed of hypocrisy stand, nor pluck up the herb of grace iiit
its stead. ^

Thirdly, it is feasible. I do not set you about an endless
work; the heart of man, I confess, is as a ruffled skein of silk,
not easily unsnarled, yet, with a faithful use of the means, it may
be disentangled, and wound up on the right bottom of sincerity
or hypocrisy. Job, when satan and his cruel friends laboured to
trouble his spirit most, and muddy the stream of his former course
and condition, by throwing their objections as so many stones in-
to it, yet he could see this precious gem at the bottom, sparkling
most brightly ; yea, Hezekiah, in the very brim of the grave, re-'
creates his spirit with it. Indeed, friends, this is a soul's encou-
ragement, tliat it shall not want God's help in this search, if it
goes about it with honest desires. A justice will not only give
his warrant to search a suspicious house, but^ if need be^ will
command others to be aiding to him in the business : word, mi-
nisters, spirit, all thou shalt have for thy assistance in this work ;
only have a care thou dost not mock God in the business ; that
soul deserves to be damned to this sin, who, in the search for hy-
pocrisy, plays the hypocrite ; like a naughty dishonest constable,
that willingly overlooks him whom he searcheth for, and then
says he cannot find him.

Now, for the fuller satisfaction in this point, and helj) in the
trial ; because it is that which both good and bad are mistaken
in ; the carnal wretch flattering himself his heart is good and ho-
nest ; the sincere soul kept under fear of being a hypocrite ; sa-
tan abusing them both : J shall therefore first la}^ down the
grounds of an hypocrite, with which he props up his rotten house,
and shew the falsities of them. Secondly, I will lay down the
grounds of the weak Christian's fear for his being a hypocrite,

and

Girt about with Truth. 403

and the weakness of them. Thirdly, some positive discoveries
of sincerity, which no hypocrite ever did, or can reach to.

SECT. II. First, For the hypocrite, he will stand upon his

defence ; his heart is sincere. Well, how will he prove it ?

1 . The hypocrite will say, Sure I am no hypocrite, for I can-
not endure it in another.

Ans, This is not enough to clear thee from being a hypocrite,
except thou canst shew thou dost this from a holy ground. Jehu
that asked Jehonadab whether his heart was right, carried at that
same time a false one in his own breast. It is very ordinary for
a man to decry that in another, and smartly to declaim against
it, which he all the while harbours himself. How severe was
Judah against Tamar ! He commands in all haste to burn her.
Gen. xxxviii. 24. Who would not have thought this man to be
chaste ? yet he was the very person that had defiled her. There
may be a great cheat in this piece of zeal ; sometimes the very
place a man is in may carry him, as the primiim mobile does the
stars, in a motion which his own genius and liking would never
lead him to. Thus many that are magistrates give the law to
drunkards and swearers, merely to keep the decorum of their
place, and shun the clamour that would arise from their neglect,
who can possibly do both, when they meet with place and com-
pany fit for their purpose. Some, their zeal against another's sia
is kindled at the disgrace which reflects upon them by it, in the
eye of the world ; and this falls out, when the sin is public, and
the person that committed it stands related ; this is conceived to
be Judah's case, who was willing his daughter should be taken
out of the way, that the blot which she had brought upon his fa-
mily, might with her be out of sight. Some, again, find it a
thriving trade, a,nd make this advantage of inveighing against
others faults, to hide their own the better, that they may carry
on their own designs with less suspicion. Absalom asperseth his
father's government, as a stirrup to help himself into the saddle.
Jehu loved the crown more than he hated Jezabel's whoredoms,
for all his loud cry against them. In a word (for it is impossible
to hit all), there may be much of revenge in it, and the person is
rather shot at than his sin ; this was observed of Anthony's zeal
against Augustus, He hated the tijrant^ but loved well enough the
tyranny.

2, Saith the hypocrite, I am bold, and fearless in dangers ;
sure I am no hypocrite. Fearfulness surpriseth the hypocrite ;
but it is the righteous that is bold as a lion,

Ans. The better way sure were to try thy boldness by thy
sincerity, than to conclude thy sincerity by thy boldness. Truly,
confidence, and a spirit undaunted at death and danger, are glo-
rious things, when the spirit and word of Christ stand by to vouch

9 c them,

404 Having your JLoins

them, when the creature can give some account of the hope that
is in him, as Paul, who shews how he eanic by it. This is Christian
(not Roman) courage, Rom. v. 1, 2, 5, 4. : many rooms he pas-
seth before he comes to this, which indeed joins upon heaven it-
self; faith is the key which kts hini into all. First, it opens the
door of justification, and lets him into a state of peace, and recon-
ciliation with God, through Jesus Christ; bsing justified hy faith ^
we have peace with God, through otn^ Lord Jesus Christy ver. 1 .
Through this he passeth on to another, the presence-chamber of
Crod's favour, and is admitted nigh unto him, as a traitor once
pardoned is, b^ whojfi also we have access hif him unto this grace
tcherein we standi ver. 2. that is, we have not only our sins par-
doned, and our persons reconciled to God by faith in Christ, but
now under Christ's wing, we are brought to court, as it were, and
stand in hrs grace, as favourites before their prince. This opens
into a third, and rejoice in the hope of glory ; we do not only at
present enjoy the grace and favour of God, and communion with
hira here, but have from this a hope firmly planted in our hearts
for heaven's glory hereafter. Now he is brought to the most in-
ward room of all, which none can come at, but he that goes thro'
ail the former, ver. 3. And not only so, but we glory in tribula-
tion also* If thou h^ist not entered at these doors, thou art a
thief and a robber ; thon gettest thy confidence too quickly to
have it brought to thy hand by God ; if God means thee well for
eternity, he'll make thee smart for this thy boldness, as he did
Jacob for stealing his father's blessing ; and therefore content not
thyself with a bare boldness and confidence in dangers, but inquire
whether it hath a scripture bottom and basis to stand on, or
whether the pillars supporting it be not ignorance in thy mind,
and stupidity in thy conscience ; if the latter, thou art in a saa
condition ; thy boldness will last no longer than thou seest it doth
in one who is drunk, who, when he is wine-sprung, thinks (as
they say) he can skip over the moon, and ventures to go without
fear upon precipices and pit-falls ; but, when sober, trembles to
see what he did in his drunken fit. Nabal, that feared nothing
when drunk, his heart died within him, and became as a stone, at
the story Abigail told him in the morning, when the wine was
gone out of him, 1 Sam. xxv. 37. Therefore as he, when his
cause miscarried through the sleepiness of the judge on the
bench, appealed from the judge asleep to the judge awake, so do
I here with you, that through thy present stupidity of conscience
art bold and fearless of death, and from this plead your upright-
ness. I appeal from j'^our conscience asleep, to the sentence it
will give when it shall be awake ; which 1 wish may be in this
world, that you may see your mistake, where you may amend it.
Thirdly, Sure, saith another, I am no hypocrite, for I perform
"' secret

Oirt about with Truth. 405

secret duties in ray closet ; the hypocrite he is oobody, except
on the stage ; it is the brand of the hypocrite, he courts the world
for its applause, and therefore does all abroad.

Ans. Though the total neglect of secret duties in religion speaks
a person to be a hypocrite, yet the performing of duties in secret
will not demonstrate thee a sincere person ; hypocrisy is in this
like the frogs brought on Egypt, no place was free of them, no,
not their bed-chambers ; they crept into the most inward rooms,
and so doth hypocrisy into closet-duties, as well as public ; in-
deed, though the place be secret where such duties are performed,
yet the matter may be so handled, and is by some hypocrites, that
they are not secret in their closets ; like the hen who goes into a
secret place to lay her cgg^ but, by her cackling, tells all the
house where she is, and what she is doing. But where this is
not, 'tis not enough ; for we must not think but some hypocrites
may and do spin a thread finer than others ; in all arts there are
some exceed others, and so in this trade of hypocrisy ; the gross
hypocrite, whose drift is to deceive others, his religion commonly
is all without doors ; but there is a hypocrite that labours to keep
a fair quarter with himself, and is very desirous to make con-
science on his side, which, to procure, he'll go to the utmost link .
of his chain, and do any thing that may not separate him and his
beloved lusts ; now secret prayer, and other duties, may be so
performed, as that they shall not more prejudice a man's lusts than
any other ; 'tis not the sword, tho' very sharp, that kills, but the
force that it is thrust withal ; indeed there are some secret duties,
as examination of our hearts, trying of our ways, and serious me-
ditation of the threatenings of the word, against such sins as we
find in our own bosoms, with close application of them to our-
selves, would put sin hard to it ; but the hypocrite can lay this
sword so easily and fabourably on, that his lusts shall not cry.
Oh I at it ; therefore still there needs a fuller search before thou
canst come off.

Fourthly, Sure I am not an hypocrite, for I do not only pray
(and that in secret too) against my sins, but I also fight against
them, yea, and that to good purpose ; for I can shew you the
spoils of my victories, that I have got over some of them. There
was a time I could not go by the ale-house, but my lust bid me
stand, and pulled mc in ; but now, I thank God, I have got such
a mastery of my drunken lust, that I can pass by without look-,
ing in.

Ans, 'Tis good what thou dost saj'^, and I wish all thy drunken
neighbours could speak as much, that, when the magistrate will
liot, or cannot spoil that drunken trade, they that keep those
shops for the devil, might even shut up their windows for want

cc2 of

m

406 Having ijouv Loins

of customers. But is it not pity, that what is good should be
marred in the doing ? 3'et *tis too common, and may be thy case-

First, Let me ask. thee, how long it hath been thus with thee ?
'littsts (as to the actings, I mean) are like agues, the fit is not al-
ways on, and yet the man not rid of his disease ; and some men's
lusts, like some agues, have not so quick returns as others. The
river doth not move always one way, now 'tis coming, anon fal-
ling water j and though it doth not rise when it falls, yet it hath
not lost its other motion. Now the tide of lust is up, and anon
'tis down, and the man recoils, and seems to run from it, but it
returns again upon him. Who would have thought to have seen
Pharaoh in his mad fit again, that should have been with him in
his good mood, when he bid Moses and the people go ? But alas,
the man was not altered ! Thus, may be, when a strong occasion
comes, this (like an easterly wind to some of our ports) will
bring in the tide of thy lust so strongly, that thy soul, that
seemed as clear of thy lust as the naked sands are of water,
will be in a few moments covered, and as deep under the waves
as ever. But the longer the banks have held, the better ; yet
shouldst thou never more be drunk as to the outward fulfilling
of the lust, this is not enough to clear thee from being a hy-
pocrite.

Secondly, Therefore let me ask thee. What was the great mo-
tive to take thee off? That may be as bad (in some sense) which
keeps thee from going to the ale-house now, as that which here-
tofore drew thee to it. 'Tis ordinary for one lust to spoil ano-
ther's market; he that should save his money, from guzzling it
down his throat, to lay on more finery on his back ; what doth
this man do but rob oue lust to sacrifice it to another ? Whether
was it God or man, God or thy purse, God or thy pride, God or
thy reputation, that knocked thee off ? If any but God pre-
vailed with thee, hypocrite is a name will better now become
thee, than when in the ale-house. Again, if God, what appre-
hensions of God were they that did it ? Some, the wrath of God,
for some particular sin, hath so shaken (that as one scared with
an apparition in a rooiu, cares not lor lying there any more), so
they dare not, at least for a short/time, be acquainted with that
practice again : And as it is not the room, but the apparition,
that one dislikes J so not the sin, but the wrath of God that
haunts it, which the other ilees from. ]n a word, may be thou
hast laid down this sinful practice, but didst thou hate it, and
love God, and so leave it ? Thou art become strange to one,
have you not got acquaintance w ith any other in the room of it.
Thou hast laid down the commission of an evil, but hast thou taken
up thy known dut)^ ? He is a bad husbandman that drains his
ground, and then neither sows nor plants it : itis all one if it had

been

Giri about with Truth, 407

been under water, as drained and not improved. "What if thou
cease to do evil (if it were possible), and thou learnest not to do
well ? *Ti3 not thy fields being clear of weeds, but fruitful ia
corn, that pays thy^ rent, and brings thee in thy profit ; nor thy
not being drunk, unclean, or any other sin, but thy being holy,
gracious, thy having faith unfeigned, pure love, and the other
graces which will prove thee sound, and bring in evidence for thy
interest in Christ, and through him of heaven.

CHAP. XL

The Weak Grounds wherehj/ tempted Souls argue against their

own Uprightness,

\T^E proceed to the false grounds, from which sincere souls do
* ^ many times go about to prove themselves hypocrites, yea,
for a while conclude they are such.

First, Sure I am an hypocrite, saith the poor soul, or else I
should not be as I am ; God would not thus follow me on with
one blow after another, and suffer satan to use me as he doth. —
This was the grand battery Job's friends had against his sin-
cerity ; and sometimes satan so far prevails, as to make the sin-
cere soul set it against his own breast, saying, much like him. If
God be with W6, why is all this befallen us 9 If God be in us by
his grace, why appears he against us ?

Ans, This fire into which God casts thee, proves tliou hast
dross ; and if because thou art held long in the furnace, thou
shouldst say thou hadst much dross, I would not oppose ; but how
thou shouldst spell hypocrite out of thy afflictions and troubles,
I marvel : the wicked indeed make use of this argument to clap
hypocrite on them ; but the Christian, methinks, should not use
it against himself. Though the barbarians presently gave their
verdict, upon sight of the viper on Paul's hand, that he was a
murderer, yet Paul thought no worse of himself for it. Christian,
give but the same counsel to thyself, when in affliction and temp-
tation, that thou usest to do to thy fellow brethren in the same
condition, and thou wilt get out of the snare : Darest thou think
thy neighbour an hypocrite, merely from the hand of God upon
him ? No, I warrant thee, thou rather pitiest hini, and helpest
him to answer the doubts that arise in his spirit from this very
argument. It would make one smile to see how handsomely and
roundly a Christian can untie the knots and scruples of another ;
who afterward, when brought into thfe like condition, is gravelled

c c 3 with

408 Having your Ziotns

with the same himself : He that helped his friend over the stile,
is now unable to stride it himself; God so orders things, that we
should need one another. She that is midwife to others, cannot
well do that office to herself ; nor he that is the messenger to
bring peace to the spirit of another, able to speak it to his own.
The case is clear, Christian ; affliction cannot prove thee a hy-
pocrite ; which, wert thou without altogether, thou raightest safer
think thou wert a bastard : The case, I say, is clear ; but thy
eyes are held for some further end God hath to bring about by
thy affliction. But, may be, thou wilt say, It is not simply the
affliction makes thee think thus of thyself; but because thou art
so long afflicted, and in the dark also, as to any sense of God's
love in thy soul. Thou hast no smiles from God's sweet coun-
tenance to alleviate thy affliction ; and if all were right, and thou
a sincere child of God, would thy heavenly Father let thee lie
groaning, and never look in upon thee, to lighten thy affliction
with his sweet presence? As to the first of these, the length of
thy affliction, I know no standard God hath set for to measure
the length of his saints' crosses by ; and it becomes not us to make
one ourselves ; which we do, when we thus limit his chastise-
ments to time, that if they exceed the day we have writ down in
our thoughts (which is like to be short enough, if our hasty hearts
may appoint), then we are hypocrites. For the other, thou must
know, God can, without any impeachment to his love, hide it for
a while ; and truly he may take it very ill, that his children,
who have security enough given them for his loving them (be-
sides the sensible manifestation of it to their souls), should call
this in question, for not coming to visit them, and taking them
up in his arms when they would have him. In a word, may be
thy affliction comes in the nature of purging physic, God intends
to evacuate some corruption by it, which endangers thy spiritual
health, and hinders thy thriving in godliness. !Now the mani-
festation of his love, God may reserve (as the physicians do their
cordials), to be given when the physic is over.

Secondly, I fear I am an hypocrite, saith the tempted soul ;
why else are there such decays and declensions to be found in
me ? 'tis the character of the upright, that he goes from strength
to strength, but I go backward from strength to weakness.—
Some Christians, they are like those that we call close men in
the world ; if they lose any thing in their trade, and all goes not
as they would have it, we are sure to hear of that over and over
again ; they speak of their losses in every company ; but when
they make a good market, and gains come in apace, they keep
this to themselves, not forward to speak of them. If Christians
would be ingenuous, they should tell what they get, as what they

lose.

Girt ah&ui with Tntfh. 40^

lose. But to take it for granted^ that tbou dost find a decay,
and direct our answer to it.

Ans. 1. I grant it as true, that the sincere soul grows stronger
and jtroBger ; but how ? Even as the tree grows higher and big-
ger, which we know meets with a fall of the leaf, and winter,
that for a while intermits its gijowth ; thus tlie sincere soul may
be put to a present stand by some temptation ; as Peter, who
was far from growing stronger when he fell from profession to de-
nying, from jdenying Christ, to sweaiing and cursi<B^ if he kpew
him ; yet as the tree, when spring comes, revives and gains more
in the summer, :than it loseth in the winter -, so doth the sincere
soul, as we sec in Peter, whose grace, that squatted in for a while,
come forth with such a force, that no cruelty from men could
drive it in ever after ; shaking temptations end in settlement, ac-
cording to the apostle's prayer, 1 Pet. v. 10. Tb^ God of all
grace^ after i^e have mfftred a uhile, make ;^ou perfe<)t, stabliskj
strengthen^ settle i/ou. , . ■ . ..

2. There is a great difFerenoe between the decay of a sincere
soul, and of an hypocrite. The hypocrite declines out of an in-
ward dislike of the ways of God : hence they are called back-
sliders in hearty Prov. xiv. 14, So long as they served his lust,
and contributed to the obtaining his worldly interest, so long he
had a seeming zeal ; but that argument taken away, he begins to
remit by degrees, till he comes to be key-cold, yea, as heartily
sick of his profession as Ammon of Tamar* When. the hypocrite
begins to fall, he goes apace, like a stone down a hill^ knows no
ground but tlie bottom. Now speak freely, poor soul, darest
thou say thou hast an inward dislike to the ways of God ? JVf ay
be thou dost pray, not with that heat and fervency which thou
hast ; but it is because thou dost not like the duty as formerly ?
Thou dost not hear the word with such joj^, but dost thou not
therefore hear it with more sorrow ? In a word, canst thou not say,
with the spouse, When thou steepest ^ thy heart waketh .^ Cant. v.
2. that is, thou art not pleased with thy present declining state,
but heartily wishest thou wert out of it ; as one tlwt hath a great
desire to rise, and be at his work (his heart is awake), but he is
not able at present to shake oft' that sleep which bijids him down :
this will clear thee from being a hypocrite. .;/'ri/-v «jf,

Thirdly, I fear, saith the poor soul, I am a hypocrite, because
I have such a divided heart in the duties I perform ; I cannot for
my life enjoy any privacy with God in duty, but some base lust
will be crowding into my thoughts when I am at prayer, hearing
of the word, or meditating ; now I am lift up with a self-applaud-
ing thought, anon cast down to the earth with a worldly thought ;
what with one and another, little respite have I from such com-

c c 4 pany.

1.

410 Having your Loms

pany. And do such vermin breed any where but in the dunghill
of a false hypocritical heart ?

Ans. Woe were it to the best of saints, if the mere rising and
stirring of such thoughts as these ("or worse than these) did prove
the heart unsound ; take heed thou concludest not thy state there-
fore from the presence of these in thee, but from the comportment
and behaviour of thy heart towards them. Answer therefore to
these few interrogatories, and possibly thou mayest see thy sin-
cefiity through the mist these have raised in the soul.

First, What friendly welcome have such thoughts with thee,
when they present themselves to thee in duty ? Are these the
guests thou hast expected, and trimmed the room for ? Didst
thou go to duty to meet those friends, or do they unmannerly
break in upon thee, and forcibly carry thee (as Christ foretold of
Peter in another case) whither thou wouldst not ? If so, why
shouldst thou bring thy sincerity into dispute ? Dost thou not
know the devil is a bold intruder, and dares come where he knows
there is none will bid him sit down ? That soul alone he can
call his own house, where he finds rest, Luke xii. 24. Suppose
in your family, as you are kneeling down to prayer, a company
of rioters should stand under your window, and ail the while you
are praying, they would be roaring and hollowing, this could
DOt but much disturb you ; but would you, from the disturbance
they make, fall to question your sincerity in the duty ? Truly
'tis all one, whether the disturbance be in the room or in the
bosom, so the soul likes the one no more than he doth the other.

Secondly, Dost thou sit contented with this company, or use
all the means thou canst to get rid of them, as soon as may be ?
Sincerity cannot sit still, to see such doings in the soul, but as a
faithful servant, when thieves break into his master's house,
though overpowered with their strength and multitude, that he
cannot with his own hands thrust them out of doors, yet he will
send out secretly for help, and raise the town upon them. Prayer
is the sincere soul's messenger ; it posts to heaven with full speed
in this case, counting itself to be no other than in the belly of
hell with Jonah, while it is yoked with such thoughts, and as
glad when aid comes to rescue him out of their hands, as Lot
was when Abraham recovered him from the kings that had car-
ried him away prisoner.

Fourthly, But may be thou wilt say, though thou darest not
deny that thy cry is sent to heaven against them, yet thou hearest
no news of the prayer, but continuest still pestered with them as
before, which increaseth thy fear that thy heart is naught, or else
thy prayer would have been answered, and thou delivered from
these inmates.

Ans* Paul might as well have said so, when he besought the

Lord

Girt about with Truth. 411

Lord thrice, but could not have tlie thorn in his flesh plucked
out, 2 Cor. xii. 8. He doth not by this shew thee to be an hy-
pocrite, but gives thee a fair advantage of proving thyself sin-
cere ; not much unlike his dealing w ith the Israelites, befors
whom he did not (as they expected) hastily drive out the nations,
but left them as thorns in their sides ; and why ? Hear the rea-
son from God's own mouth, Judg. ii. 22. That through them I
may prove Israel^ whether they will keep the way of the Lord
to walk therein^ as their fathers did keep it, or not. Thus God
leaves these corruptions in thee, to prove whether thou wilt at
last fall in and be friends with them, or maintain the conflict with
them, and continue praying against them, by which perseverance
thou wilt prove thyself to be upright indeed. A false heart will
never do this. He is soon answered, that doth not cordially de-
sire the thing he asks. The hypocrite, when he prays against
his corruption, goes of hisconscience's-errand,not his will's ; just
as a servant, that doth not like the message his master sends him
about, but dares not displease him, and therefore goes, and may
be knocks at the man's door whither he is sent, yet very faintly,
loth he should hear him ; all that he doth is, that he may but
bring a fair tale to his master, by saying he was there : even so
prays the hypocrite, pnly to stop . the mouth of his conscience
with this flam, that he hath prayed against his lust ; glad he is
when 'tis over, and more glad when he returns re infecta. Ob-
serve therefore the behaviour of thy heart in prayer, and judge
thyself sincere or not sincere by that, not by the present success
it hath. God can take it kindly that thou askest what at present
he thinks better to deny than to give. Thou wouldst have all
thy corruptions knocked down at one blow, and thy heart in a
posture to do the work of thy God, without any stop or rub from
lust within, or devil without ; wouldst thou not ? God highly
approves of your zeal, as he did of David's, who had a mind to
build him a temple ; but as he thought it not fit that the house
should be reared in David's time (reserving it for the peaceful
reign of Solomon), so neither doth he that this thy request should
be granted in this life, having reserved this immunity as an espe-
cial part of the charter of the city that is above, which none but
glorified saints, who are inhabitants there, enjoy : he hath indeed
taught us to pray. Let thy will be done on earth, as it is done in
heaven ; but we must expect the full answer to it when we come
there. Learn therefore, poor soul, to take this denial : David
did not question the love and favour of God, because he would
not let him build the house, neither did he desist preparing ma-
terials for it, but did what he might towards it, though he might
not what he would. Far be it from thee also, that thou shouldst
for this either cast away thy confidence on God, or lay aside thy

endeavour

412 Having your Lohis

endeavour for God, in mortifying thy corruptions, and adding to
the store thou hast at present of his graces, which (though now
imperfect and unpolished) he will make use of in the heavenly
building which he intends thee for, where all the proken pieces
(as I may so say) of our weak graces shall be so improved by
the power and wisdom of God, that they shall make up one glo-
rious structure of perfect holiness, more to be admired by angels
in heaven for the rare workmanship of it, than Solomon's temple
was on earth by men, when in its full glory.

Fifthly, Oh but, saith the tempted soul, I have sometimes in-
ward checks from ray own conscience, that this duty I did hy-
pocritically, and in that action there was much falseness of heart
discovered itself; and if my heart condemn me, how can it be
otherwise, but T must aeeds be an hypocrite ?

Am, I shall help to resolve this, by laying down two distinc-
tions, and ap}i>lying them to the ease in hand.

First, We must distinguish between conscience proceeding by
a right rule in its judgment, and conscience proceeding hj a false
rule.

Secondl)?, Between a conscience that goes by a right rule, and
is also rightly informed how to use it ; and a conscience that
judgeth by a right rule, but is not rightly informed in its use.
First, to apply the first.

1. Then conscience proceeds by a right rul€, when it grounds
its charge upon the word of God ; for, being but an under officer,
it is bound up to a law by which it must proceed ; and that can
be no other than what God appoints it, who gives it commission^
and puts it in office ; and that is the word of God, and that only ;
so that we are to give credit to our consciences, commanding or
forbidding, condemning or acquitting us, when it can shew its
warrant from the word of God for these ; otherwise,, as subjects
that are wronged in an inferior court, and cannot have justice
there, may appeal higher, so may and ought we from conscience
to the word of God. And you must know conscience is a faculty
that is corrupted as much as any other by nature, and is very
often made use of by satan, to deceive both good and bad, godly
and ungodly. Many that now their consciences (they say) speak
peace to them, will be found merely cheated and gulled, when the
books shall be opened ; no such discharge will then be found en-
tered in the book of the word, as conscience hath put it into their
hand. And many gracious souls, who passed their days in a con-
tinual fear of their spiritual state, and were kept chained in the
dark dungeon of a troublesome conscience, shall then be acquit-
ted, and have their action against satan for false imprisonment,
and accusing their consciences to the disturbing their peace. —
And now let me ask thee, poor soul, who sayest, thy conscience

checks

Girt about with Trtitlu 413

checks thee fqr a hypocrite ; art thou a convicted hypocrite hy
the word ? Doth thy conscience shew thee a word from Christ'a
law, that proves thee so ? or rather, doth not satan abuse thy own
£earfulness, and play upon the tenderness of thy spirit, which iu
so deeply possessed with the sense of thy sins, that thou art ready
to believe any motion in thee, that tells any evil of thee ? I am
sure it is oft so ; the fears and checks which sonie poor souls have
in their bospraS;, are like those reports that are now and then
raised of some great news, by such as have a mind to abuse the
country; a talk and murmur you shall have in every man's
mouth of it ; but go about to follow it to the spring-head, and you
can find no ground of it, or author of credit that will vouch it. — -
Thus here, a brute there is in the tempted Christian's bosom,
and a noise heard, as it were, continually whispering in his ears,
1 am an h^jpocrite^ iny hem^t is naught ; all I do is dissembling ;
but when the poor creature in earnest sets upon the search, to
find out the business, calls his soul to the bar, and falls to exa-
mine it upon those interrogatories, which the word propounds for
trial of our sincerity, he can fasten this charge from none of them
all upou himself ; and at last comes to find it but a false alarm of
hell, given out to put him to some trouble and affrightment for
the present, though not hurt him in the end ; like the politicians*
lie, which, though it be found false at last, yet doth them some
service the time it is believed for true. As one serious question,
such as this, seriously put to a gross hypocrite, is able to make
him speechless, What promise in all the Bible hast thou on thy
side for thy salvation ? so it is enough to deliver the troubled soul
from his fears of being a hypocrite, if he would but, as David, ask
his soul a scripture reason for his disquietments : Why art thou
cast dowfi^ O my soul, and why art thou disquieted tvithin me f
The sincere soul hath firm ground for his faith at bottom, how-
ever a little dirt is cast by satan over it, to make him afraid of
venturing to set his foot on it.

Secondly, We must distinguish between a conscience rightly
informed, and a conscience misinformed. A conscience may be
regular, so as to choose the right rule, but not rightly informed
how to use this rule in his particular case ; indeed, in the saint's
trouble of spirit, conscience is full of scripture sometimes, on
which it grounds its verdict, but very ill interpreted : O, saith
the poor soul, this place is against me. Psalm xxxii. Blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity^ and in
whose spirit there is no guile. Here, saith he, is a description of
a sincere soul, to be one in whose spirit there is no guile ; but I
find much guile in me, therefore I am not the sincere one : Now
this is a very weak, yea, false inference. By a spirit without
guile, is not meant a person that hath not the least deceitfulncss

and

414 Having i^oitr Loins

and hypocrisy remaining in his heart ; this is such a one, as none
since the fall (but Christ himself) was ever found walking in mor-
tal flesh. To be without sin, and to be without guile, in this
strict sense, are the same : A prerogative here on earth peculiar
to the Lord Christy 2 Pet. ii. ^2, who did no sin, neither was
guile found in his mouth. And therefore when we meet with the
same phrase attributed to the saints, as to Levi, Malachi ii. 6.
Iniquity was not found t7i his lips ; and to Nathaniel, John i. 47.
Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile ; we
must sense it in an inferior way, that may suit with their imper-
fect state here below, and not put that which only was Christ's
crown on earth, and is the glorified saints' robe in heaven, to
wear on the weak Christian while militant on earth, not only with
a devil without, but a body of sin within him. Wipe thine eyes
again (poor soul), and then, if thou readest such places, wherein
the spirit of God speaks so highly and hyperbolically of his saints'
grace, thou shalt find he doth not assert the perfection of their
grace, free from all mixture of sin ; but rather to comfort poor
drooping souls, and cross their misgiving hearts, which, from the
presence of hypocrisy, are ready to overlook their sincerity as
none at all, he expresseth his high esteem of their little grace, by
speaking of it as if it were perfect, and their hypocrisy none at all.
O Christian, thy God would have thee know that thou dost not
more overlook thy little grace for fear of the hypocrisy thou
findest mingled with it, than he doth thy great corruption, for the
dear love he bears to the little yet true grace he sees amidst them.
Abraham loved and owned his kinsman JLot, when a prisoner, car-
ried away by those heathen kings ; so does thy God thy grace,
near in blood to him, when sadly yoked by the enemy in thy own
bosom ; and for thy comfort know, whenjthe books shall be open-
ed, the word, and also that of thy own conscience in the great
day of Christ, Christ will be the interpreter of both ; not the
sense which thou hast in the distemper of thy troubled soul, when
thou readest both with satan's gloss put upon them, shall stand ;
but what Christ shall say ; and to be sure he iiath already declar-
ed himself so great a friend to weak grace, when on earth, by
his loving converse with his disciples, and free testimony he gave
to his grace in them, when God knows they were but raw and
weak Christians, both as to their knowledge and practice, that,
poor soul, thou needest not fear he will then and there condemn
what here he commended and so dearly embraced. Yea, he that
took most care for his little lambs, how they might be used gently
when he was to go from them to heaven, will not be unkind him-
self to them at his return, I warrant thee.

CHAP.

1

Giri about with Truth, 415

CHAP. XII.

Four Characters of Truth of Hearty or Sincerity.

TJ AVING broke the flattering glasses whereiu hypocrites use
^-'" to look, till they fall iu love with their own painted faces,
and conceit themselves sincere ; as also those which disfigure the
sweet countenance and natural beauty of the sincere soul, so as to
make it bring the grace of God which shines on it into question ;
I now proceed to draw a few lineaments, and lay down some un-
doubted characters of this truth of heart, and godly sincerity,
whereby we may have the better advantage of stating every one
his own condition.

SECT. I. — First, A sincere heart is a new heart ; bypocrisy
is called the old leaven^ I Cor. v. 7. Purge out therefore the old
leaven^ that ye may he a new lump, ^ Dough once soured with
leaven will never lose the taste ^f it ; neither will corrupt na-
ture cease to be hypocritical, till it cease to be corrupt nature ;
either the heart must be made new, or it will have its old quality ;
there may be some art used to conceal it, and take away its un-
savouriness from others for a while, as flowers and perfumes cast
about a rotten carcase may do. its scent ; yet both the rotten
carcase and the corrupt heart remain the same. They say of
the peacock, that roast him as much as you will, yet his flesh,
when cold, will be raw again ; truly thus let a carnal heart do
what it please, force upon itself ever such a high strain of seem-
ing piety, so that it appears fire-hot with zeal, yet stay a little,
and it will come to its old complexion, and discover itself to be
but what it was, naught and false ; one heart, and a new heart,
both are covenant-mercies, yea, so promised, that the new is pro-
mised in order to the making of the heart one, Ezek. xi. l). I
will give them one hearty and I will put a new spirit in you^ and
I will take away the stony /leart^ &,c. God promiseth he will
give them one spirit, that is, a sincere spirit to God and man :
contrary to a divided heart, a heart and a hearty the mark of hy-
pocrisy. But how will he give it ? he tells them, I will give you
a new spirit : And how will he do that ? 1 will take away the
heart of stone^ and give you a heart ofjlesh. Upon which words
one very well thus glosseth, I will give you owe hearty which
that I may so do, I will cast it anew ; and that I may do this
also, 1 will melt and soften it ; as one that having many pieces
of old silver or plate lying by him, which he intends to put into
one bowl, he first resolves to cast it anew, and to that end throws
it into the fire to melt, and so at last shuts up all in one piece.—
Indeed by nature, man's heart is a very divided broken thing,.

scattered

416 Having your Loins

scattered and parcelled out, a piece to this creature, and a piece
to that lust. One while this vanity hires hira (as Leah did
Jacob of Rachel) ; anon, when he hath done some drudgery for
that, he lets out himself to another ; thus divided is man and his
affections ; now, the elect, whom God hath decreed to be vessels
of honour, consecrated for his holy use and service, he throws in-
to the fire of his word, that being there softened and melted, he
may, by his transforming spirit, cast them anew, as it were, into
a holy oneness ; so that he who before was divided from God,
and lost among the creatures and his lusts, that shared him among
them, now his heart is gathered unto God from them all ; it looks
with a single eye on God, and acts for him in ail that it doth ;
if therefore thou wouldst know, whether thy heart be sincere, in-
quire whether it be thus made new. Hath God thrown thee into
his furnace ? Did ever his word, like fire, take hold upon thee,
so as to soften thy hard heart, and melt thy drossy spirit, that
thou now seest that desperate hypocrisy, pride, unbelief, and the
like, which before lay hid, like dross in the metal, before the fire
finds it out ? And not only seest it, but seest it sever and separate
fiom thy soul, that thou who before didst bless thyself as in a
good condition, now bewailest thy folly for it, heartily confessing
what an unsavoury creature thou wert to God in all thou didst ;
the things which appeared so gaudy and fair in thy eye, thy civil
righteousness, keeping the church, slubbering over a few duties in
thy family, that for them thou thoughtest heaven was, as it were,
in mortgage to thee : Dost thou lament to think how thou didst
mock God with these hypocritical pageants abroad, while thy
lusts were entertained within doors in thy bosom, there sucking
the heart-blood of thy dearest affections ? In a word, canst thou
say that thou art not only melted into sorrow for these, but that
thou findest thy heart, which was so divided and distracted be-
twixt lusts and creatures, now united, to fear the name of God ?
Hast thou but one design that above all thou pursuest, and that
to approve thyself to God, though with the displeasing of all be-
side ? One love, how thou mayest love Christ, and be beloved
of him ? If the streams of thy affections be thus, by the mighty
power of God renevi'ing thee, gathered into this one channel, and
with a sweet violence run this way, then blessed art thou of the
liOrd ; thou art the sincere soul in his account, though mnch cor-
ruption be found in thee still, that is soiling thy stream, and en-
deavouring to stop the free course of thy soul towards God j this
may put thee to some trouble, as the mountains and rocks do the
river water running to the sea, causing some windings and turn-
itigs in its course, which else would go the nearest way, even in a
direct line to it ; so thy remaining corruptions may now and then
put thee out of thy way of obedience 3 but sincerity will, like the

water

Girt about with Truth. 417

water on its journey, for all tliis, never leave till it bring thee,
though with sonie compass, to thy God, whom thou hast so im-
printed in thy heart, as he can never be forgot by thee. But if
thou never haidst the hypocrisy of thy heart Uius discovered, and
made hateful to thee ; nor a new principle put into thy bosom, to
turn the tide of thy soul contrary to the natural fall of thy affec-
tions ; only thou, from the good opinion which thou hast of thy-
self, because of some petty flourishes thou makest in profession,
takcst it for granted thou art sincere, and thy heart true ; I dare
pronounce thee an unclean hypocrite ; the world ma}'- saint thee
possibly, but thon wilt never, as thon art, be so in God's account ;
when thou hast dressed and spruced up thyself never so finely
into the fashion of a Ciiristian, still thou wilt have but a saint's
face, and an hypocrite's heart. It is no matter what is the sign,
though an angel that hangs without, if the devil and sin dweli
within. New trimmings upon an old garment will not make it
new, only give it a new shape ; and truly it is no gof>d husbandry
to bestow a great deal of cost in fining up an old suit, that will
drop in a while to tatters and rags, when a little more might pur-
chase a new one that is lasting. And is it not better to labour
to get a new heart, that all thou dost may be accepted, and thou
saved, than to lose all the pains thou takest in religion, and thy-
self also for want of it ?

SECT. II. — ^Secondly, A sincere heart is a plain heart, a sim-
ple heart, sine plicis^ a heart withoi|t folds : the hypocrite is of
the serpent's brood ; he can, as the serpent, shrink up, or let out
himself for his advantage, unwilling to expose himself much to the-
knowledge of others ; and he has reason to do so, for he knows
he hath most credit where he is least known : The hypocrite is
one that digs deep to hide his counsel, Isa, xxix. 15. Their
heart is deep, Psalm Ixiv. 6. Their meaning and intent of heart
lies no body knows how far distant from their words ; a sincere
heart is like a clear stream in a brook j you may see to the bot-
toui of his plots in his words, and take the measure of his heart
by his tongue. I have heard say, that diseases of the heart are
seen in the spots of the tongue ; but the hypocrite can shew a
clear tongue, and yet have a foul heart ; he that made that pro-
verb, speak that I may see yon^ did not think of the hypocrite,
who will speak that you shall not see him : The thickest clouds
that he hath to wrap up his villainy in, are his religious tongue,
and sandy profession. Wouldst thou know, whether thou hast
a true heart in thy bosom ? Look if thou hast a plain-dealing
heart ; see them joined, 2 Cor. i. 12. Paul, and the rest of the
faithful messengers of Christ, had their conversation among the
Corinthians in simplicity and godly sincerity. They had no
close box in the cabinet of their hearts, in which they cunningly

kept

418 Having ymr Loins

kept any thing concealed from them of their designs, as the false
apostles did. Now this plain-dealing of the sincere heart appears
in these three par4:iculars.

First, A sincere heart deals plainly with itself, and that in two
things chiefly.

1. In searching and ransacking its own self; this it doth to
its utmost skill and power. It will not be put off with pretences,
or such a mannerly excuse as Rachel gave to Laban, when at the
same time she sat brooding on his idols. No, an account it will
have of the soul, and that such a one as may enable it to give a
good account to God, upon whose warrant it does its office. O
the fear which such a one shews, lest any lust should escape its
eye, and lie hid, as Saul in the stuff', or that any the least grace of
God should be trodden on regardlessly, by belying or denying
it ! When David found his thoughts of God, which used to re-
create him, and be his most pleasing company, occasion some
trouble in hi& spirit. Psalm Ixxix. 3. I thought on God, and was
troubled ; this holy man, wondering what the matter should be,
do but see. what a privy search he makes ; he hunts backwards
and forwards, what God's former dealings had been, and com-
munes with his hearty and makes diligent search there, ver. 6.
never gives over till he brings it to an issue ; and finding the
disturber of his peace to be iu himself, he is not so tender of his
reputation, as to think of smoothing the business, or smoothing it
over; but attaches the thief, indites his sin, and confesseth the
fact, to the justifying of God, whom before he had hard thoughts
of, ver. 20. And I said, this is my infirmity* As if he had said,
Lord, now I see the Jonas that caused the storm in my bosom,
and made me so uncomfortable in my affliction all this while ; 'tis
this unbelief of mine, that bowed me down to attend so to the
sorrow and sense of my present affliction^^that it would not suffer
me to look up to former, experiences : and so, while I forget them,
I thought unworthily of thee; here was an honest plain-dealing
soul indeed ; what akin art thou, O man, to holy David ? Is
this thy way in searching of the soul ? Dost thou do it in earnest,
as if thou wert searching for a murderer hid in thy house, as wil-
ling to find out thy sin as ever a papist in Queen Mary's days
wajj to find protestants, whom to discover they would run their
swords and forks into beds and hay-mows, lest they should be
there ? Or when thou goest about this work, art thou loth to
look too far, lest thou shouldst see what thou wouldst willingly
overlook, or afraid to stay too long, lest conscience should make
an unpleasing report to thee ? Tertulllan said of the heathen
persecutors, they would not let the Christians be heard, because
they could not then easily have had the face to condemn them,
their cause would have appeared so just : the contrary here

is

Chtrt about with Truth. 419

is true; the hypocrite dares not put his state upon a fair trial^
because then he could not handsomely escape condemning him-
self, j^ut the sincere soul is so zealous to know its true state,
that when he hath done his utmost himself to find it out, and upon
this privy search his conscience clears him, yet he contents not
himself here, but jealous lest self-love might blind his eyes, and
occasion too favourable a report from his conscience, he calls in
help from heaven, aud puts himself upon God's review, Psalin
cxxxix. 21. Do not I hate them that hate thee^ and am I not
grieved with those that rise up against thee ? ver. 22. his own
conscience answers to it, / hate them with a perfect hatred^ I
count them mine enemies. Yet David, not wholly satisfied with
his own single testimony, calls out to God, ver. 23. Search me^
O God, and know my heart ; see if there be any wicked way in
me ; and wise physicians will not trust their own judgments
about the state of their own health, nor sincere Christians them-
selves about their soul's welfare ; 'tis God that they attend to ;
his judgment alone concludes and determines them; when they
have prayed, and opened their case to him, with David, they
listen what he will say ; therefore you shall find them putting
themselves under the most searching ministry, from which they
never come more pleased, than when their consciences are stript
naked, and their hearts exposed to their view, as the woman of
Samaria, who commended the sermon, and Christ that preached
it, for this, unto her neighbours, that he had told her all that ever
she had done^ John iv. 29. whereas a false heart likes not to hear
on that ear ; he thinks the preacher commits a trespass, when
he comes upon his ground, and comes up close to his conscience ;
and if he could, he would have an action against him for it. This
stuck in Herod's stomach, that John should lay his finger on his
sorie place ; though he feared him, being conscious, yet he never
loved him, and therefore was sooq persuaded to cut off his head,
which had so bold a tongue in it, that durst reprove his incestu-
ous bed.

2. The sincere heart shews its plain dealing with itself, as
in searching, so in judging itself, when once testimony comes in
clear against it, and conscience tells : Soul, in this duty thou he-
trayest pride, in that affliction, frowardness, and impatience ; such
^a one is not long before it proceeds to judgment ; and this it doth
with so much vehemency and severity, that it plainly appears,
zeal for God, whom he hath dishonoured, makes him forget all
self-pity ; he lays about him in humbling and abasing himself, as
the sons of Levi in executing justice on their brethren, who knew
not brother nor sister in that act ; truly such an heroic act is
this of the sincere soul judging itself; he is so transported and
clothed with a holy fury against his sin, that he is deaf to the cry

D d of

420 ' Having ijour Loins

of flesh and blood, which would move him to think of a more fss-
vourable sentence. I have sinned, saith David, against the
Lord^ 2 Sam. xii. ; in another place, I have sinned greathj, and
done very foolishly, 2 Sam. xxiv.: in a third, he, as unworthy of
a man's name, takes beast to himself, so foolish teas I and igno»
rant^ as a beast before thee, Psalm Ixxiii. 22. But a false heart,
if conscience checks him for this or that, and he perceives by this
inward murmur in his bosom, which way the cause will go, if he
proceeds fairly on to put himself upon the trial ; the court is sure
to be broke up, and all put off to another hearing, which is like
to be at leisure ; so that as witnesses, with delays and many put-
offs, grow at last weary of the work, and will rather stay at home,
than make their appearance to little purpose ; so conscience
ceaseth to give evidence where it cannot be heard, or when heard,
can have no judgment against the offender.

Secondly, A true heart is plain, as with itself, so with God
also ; several ways this might appear ; take one for all ; and that
is in his petitions and requests at the throne of grace ; the hypo-
crite in prayer juggles, he asks what he would not thank God to
give him ; there is a mystery of iniquity in his praying against
iniquity. Now this will appear in these two particulars, whether
we be plain-hearted in our requests or hot.

1, Observe whether thou beest deeply afflicted in spirit, when
thy request is not answered, or regardest not what success it
hath ; suppose it be a sin thou prayest against, or some grace
thou prayest for ; what is thy temper all the while the messenger
stays, especially if it be long ? Thou prayest, and corniption
abates not, grace grows not ; now th}'^ hypocrisy or sincerity will
appear ; if sincere, every moment will be an hour, every hour a
day, a year, till thou hearest sonle news from heaven ; hope de-
ferred will make the heart sick ; doth not the sick man that
sends for a physician, think long for his coming ? O he is afraid
his messenger should miss of him, or that he will not come with
him, or that he shall die before he brings his physic : a thousand
fears disturb him, and make him passionately wish he were there ;
thus the sincere soul passeth those hours with a sad heart, that
it lives without a return of its request ; I aJn a woman^ said
Hannah to Eli, of a sorroirftd spirit, 1 Sam. i. 15. and why so ?
Alas ! she had from year to year prayed to God, and no answer
was 5^et come : Thus saith the soul, I am one of a bitter spirit,
1 have prayed for a soft heart, a believing heart, many a day and
month, but 'tis not come ; I am afraid I was not sincere in the
business ; could my request so long have hung in the clouds else ?
Sdch a soul is full of fears and troubles ; like a merchant that
hath a rich/ ship at sea, who cannot sleep on land, till he sees her,
or hears of her; but if, when thou hast sent up thy prayer, thou

canst

Gtri about mth Truth, 421

caiisl cast oiT the care and thoughts of the business ; as if praying
were only like children's scribbling over pieces of paper, whicb^
when they have done, they lay aside, and think no more of them $
if thou canst take denials at God's hands for such things as these,
and blank no more than a cold suitor doth, when he hears not
from her whom he never really loved ; it breaks not thy rest,
imbitters not thy joy ; a false heart set thee on work. I^tid take
heed, that, instead of answering thy prayer, God doth not answer
the secret desire of thy heart j which should he do, thou art un-
done for ever.

2. Observe whether or not thou usest the means to obtain that
which thou prayest God to give. A false heart sits still itself,
while it sets God on work ; like him, that when his cart was set
in a slough, cried, Jupiter, help ! but would not put his owi
shoulder to the wheel ; if corruptions may be mortified, and kil-
led for him, as Goliah was for the Israelites, he, like them, look-
ing on, and not put to strike a stroke, so it is ; but for any en-
counter with them, or putting himself to the trouble of using any
means to obtain the victory, he is so eaten up with sloth and
cowardice, that it is as ^rie^'ous he f:hinks, as to sit still in slavery
and bondage to them. But a sincere soul is conscientiously la^
borious, Xe/ us lift up our hearts with our hands unto the hord^
Lam. iii. 41. that is, saith Bernard, oremus <Sf lahoremus. Let
us pray and use the endeavour ; the hypocrite's tongue wags,
but the sincere soul's feet walk, and hands work.

3. The sincere soul discovers its plainness and simplicity to
men. We had our conversation among you, saith Paul to the
Corinthians, in simplicity^ and godly sincerity^ not in fleshly wis-
dom. The Christian is one that cannot subject his heart to his
head, his conscience to his policy 5 he commits himself to God in
well-doing, and fears not others, if he be not conscious to him-
self: and therefore he dares not make a hole in his conscience to
keep his skin whole, but freely and openly avouches God without
dissembling his profession : while the hypocrite shifts his sails,
and puts forth such colours as his policy and worldly interest ad-
viseth ; if the coast be clear, and no danger at hand, he'll appear
as religious as any ; but no sooner he makes discovery of any
hazard it may put him to, but he tacks about, and shapes another
course, making no bones of juggling with God and man ; he counts
that his right road, which leads to his temporal safety ; but quitfs
contrary the upright, Prov. xvi. 17. The high way of the upm
right is to depot tfty)7n evih This is the road that this true tra-
veller jogs on in J and if he be at any time seen out of it, 'tis upon
no other account, than a man that hath unwillingly lost his way,
never quiet till he strike into it again.

SECT. Ill ^^Thirdly, The sincere tru«.hearted Christian is

]) d 2 uniform.

422 Having ifour Loini

uniform. As truth iu the doctrine differs in this from its oppo^
site, that it is one, error diverse ; there is no harmony among er-
rors, as among truths ; so truth of heart, or sincerity, is known
from hypocrisy by the same character. Indeed truth in the
heart is but the copy and transcript of the other ; they agree as
the face in the glass doth with the face in the man that looks in
it, or as the image in the wax with the sculpture in the seal
from which it is derived : therefore if truth in the word be uni-
form and harmonious, then truth in the heart, which is nothing
but the impression of that there, must also be so. A sincere
Chiistian in the tenure of his course is, like himself, of one co-
lour, not like your changeable stuffs, so dyed, that you may, by
waving of them divers ways, see divers colours.

There is a threefold uniformity in the sincere Christian's obe-
dience ; he is uniform, as to the object, subject, aud several cir-
cumstances that accompany his obedience.

First, As io the object, the hypocrite indeed is in with one
duty, and out with another : like a globous body, he toucheth the;
law of God in one point, some particular command beseems zeal-
ous for, but meets not in the rest ; whereas the sincere heart lies
close to the whole law of God in his desire and endeavour. The
upright man's foot is said to stand in an even place, Psal. xxvi.
11. he walks riot haltingly and uncomely ; as those who go ia
unequal ways, which are hobbling, and up, and down ; or those
whose feet and legs are not even ; (as Solomon saith) the legs of
the lame are not even, and so cannot stand in an even place, be-
£;^use one is long, and the other short ; the sincere man's feet arc
even, and legs of a length, as 1 may say, his care alike conscien-
tious to the whole will of God. The hypocrite, like the badger,
hath one foot shorter than another ; or like a foundered horse, he
doth not stand, as we say, right of all-fours ; one foot at least
you shall perceive he favours, loth to put it down. The Phari-
sees pretended much zeal to the first table j they prayed and
fasted in an extraordinary manner ; but they prayed for their
prey ; and when they had fasted all day, they sup at the poor
tvidow's cost, her house they mean to devour : A sad fast that
ends in opprCvSsion, and only serves to get them a ravenous appe-
tite, to swallow others estate, under a pretence of devotion. The
moralist, he is very punctual in his dealings with men, but very
thievish in his carriage to God ; though he will not wrong his
neighbour of a farthing, he sticks not to rob God of greater mat-
ters ; his love, fear, failh, are due debts to God, but he makes no
conscience of paying them. It is ordinary in scripture to de-
scribe a saint, a godly person, by a particular duty, a single
grace ; sometimes his character is, one that feareth an oatk^
!E$cles. ix. 2. j sometimes one that loves his brethren, 1 John iii.

14.

Girt about mth Truth. 426

14. and so of the rest ; and why ? but because wherever one duty
is conscientiously performed, the heart stands ready for another.
As God hath enacted all his commands with the same authority,
wherefore 'tis said, God spake all these words^ Exod. xx. 1. one
as well as the other ; so God infuseth all grace together, and
writes not one particular law in the heart of his children, but the
whole law, which is an universal principle, inclining the soul
impartially to all ; so that if thou likest not all, thou art sincere
in none.

Secondly, The sincere Christian is uniform ; the whole man,
so far as renewed, moves one way ; all the powers and faculties
of the soul join forces, and have a sweet accord together ; when
the understanding makes discovery of a truth, then conscience
improves her utmost authority on the will, commanding it in the
name of God, whose officer it is, to entertain it ; the will, so soon
as conscience knocks, opens herself, and lets it in ; the aifections,
like dutiful hand-maids, seeing it a guest welcome to the will,
their mistress, express their readiness to wait on it as becomes
them in their places. But in the hypocrite it is not so ; there
one faculty fights against another ; never are they all found to
conspire and meet in a friendly vote ; when there is light in the
understanding, the man knows this truth and that duty ; then oft
conscience is bribed for executing its office, it doth not so much
as check him for the neglect of it : truth stands, as it were, be-
fore the soul, and conscience will not so much befriend it as to
knock, and rouse up the soul to let it in ; if conscience be over-
come to plead its cause, and shews some activity in pressing for
entertainment, it is sure either to have a churlish denial, with a
frown for its pains, in being so busy to bring such an unwelcome
guest with it, as the froward wife doth by her husband, when he
brings home with him one she doth not like, or else a feigned en-
tertainment, the more subtilely to hide the secret enmity it hath
against it.

Thirdly, The sincere soul is uniform as to the circumstances
of his obedience and holy walking ; such as are time, place, and
company, and manner ; he is uniform as to time, his religion is
not like a holiday suit, put on only at set times; but come
to him when you will, you will find him clad alike, holy on
the Lord's day, and holy on the week day too, Psalm cvi. 3.
Blessed are thei/ that keep judgment, and he that doth righteous-
ness at all times : 'Tis a sign it is not a man's complexion, when
the colour he hath while he sits by the fire dies away soon after.
There are some, if you would see their goodness, and be ac-
quainted with their godliness, you must hit the right time, or else
you will find none, like some flowers that are seen but some
months in the year, or like some physicians that they call fore-

D d3 nooA

424 Havmgt/our Loins

UOOfl men ; they that would speak with them to any purpose most
come in the morning, because commonly they are drunk in the
afternoon ; thus, may be, in the morning, you may take the hy-
pocrite on his knees, in a saint's posture, but when that fit is
over, you shall see little of God in all his course, till night brings
him again of course to the like duty. The watch is naught that
goes only at first winding up, and stands all the day after ; and
50 is that heart surely, that desires not always to keep in spiritual
motion. I confess there may a great difference in the standing
of two watches ; one from the very watch itself, because it hath
not the right make, and this will ever do so till altered ; another
possibly is true work, only some dust clogs the wheels, or a fall
hath a little battered it ; which removed, it will go well again. —
And there is as great difierence between the sincere soul and hy-
pocrite in this case ; the sincere soul may be interrupted in its
spiritual motion and Christian course, but it is from some temp-
tation that at present clogs him, but he hath a new nature which
inclines to a constant motion in holiness, and doth, upon remov-
ing the present impediment, return to its natural exercise of god-
liness ; but the hypocrite fails in the very constitution and frame
o£ his spirit ; he hath not a principle of grace in him to keep him
moving.

Again, The sincere Christian is uniform, as to place and com-
pany : wherever he goes, he carries his rule with him, which
squares him : within doors, amidst his nearest relations, David's
resolve is his, Psalm ci. 2. He will walk within his house with
a perfect heart ; follow him abroad, he carries his conscience
with him, and doth not bid it (as Abraham his servants, when
ascending the mount) to stay behind till he comes back. The
Romans had a law, that every one should, wherever he went,
wear a badge of his trade in his bat, or outward vestment, that he
might be known. The sincere Christian never willingly lays
aside the badge of his holy profession. No place nor company
turns him out of the way that is called holy. Indeed his con-
science doth not make him forego his prudence ; he knows how
to distinguish of place and place, company and company ; and
therefore when cast among boisterous sinners, and scornful ones,
he doth not betray religion to scorn, by throwing its pearls before
such as would trample on them, and rent him ; yet he is very
careful, lest his prudence should put his uprightness to any hazard.
I will behave myself wisely (saith David, in the forenamed
Psalm), in a perfect way ; that is, I will shew myself as wise as
I can, so I may also be upright. Truly that place and company
is like the Torrid Zone, uninhabitable to a gracious soul, where
prophaneness is so hot, that sincerity cannot look out and shew
itself^ by seasonable counsel and reproof, with safety to the saint ;

and

Gift about with Truth, 425

and therefore they that have neither so much zeal to protest
agaiost the sins of such, nor so much care of themselves, as to
withdraw from thence, where they can only receive evil, and do
no good, have just cause to call their sincerity into question.

SECT. IV. — Fourthly, The sincere Christian is progressive,
never at his journey's end, till he gets to heaven ; this keeps him
always in motion, advancing in his desii*es and endeavours for-
ward ; he is thankful for little grace, but not content with great
measures of grace : When 1 ateake (saith David), I shall be sa^
tisjied with thy likeness^ Psalm xvii. 15. He had many a sweet
entertainment at the house of God in his ordinances : The spirit
of God was the messenger that brought him many a covered dish
from God*s table, inward consolations which the world knew not
of: Yet David has not enough, 'tis heaven alone that can give
him the full draught. They say the Gauls, when they first tasted
of the wines of Italy, were so taken with their lusciousness
and sweetness, that they could not be content to trade thither for
this wine, but resolved they would conquer the Land where they
grew. Thus the sincere soul thinks it not enough to receive a
little now and then of grace and comfort from heaven, by trading
and holding commerce at a distance with God in his ordinances
here below, but projects and meditates a conquest of that holy
land, and blessed place, from whence such rich commodities come,
that he may drink the wine of that kingdom in that kingdom. —
This raiseth the soul to high and noble enterprizes, how it may
attain to further degrees of grace every day than other, and so
climb nearer and nearer to heaven. He that aims at the sky,
shoots higher than he that means only to hit a tree. / press
(saith Paul) toward the mark^for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jestis^ Phil. iii. 14. Others admired Paul's
attainments. O that they had Paul's grace, and then they should
be happy ! but he would count himself very unhappy, if he might
have no more ; he professeth he hath not apprehended what he
runs for ; the prize stands not in the mid-way, but at the end of
the race,, and therefore he puts on with full speed, yea, makes it
the trial of uprightness in all, ver. 15. Let us therefore^ as many
as be perfect (that is, sincere), be thus winded, 'Tis the hy-
pocrite that stints himself in the things of God. A little know-
ledge he would have, that may help him to discourse of religion
among the religious ; and for more, he leaves it as more fitting for
the preacher than himself. Some outward formalities he likes,
and makes use of in profession, as attendance on public ordi-
nances ; and sins which would make him stink among his neigh-
bours, he forbears ; but as for pressing into more inward and
nearer communion with God in ordinances, labouring to get his
heart more spiritual, the whole body of sin more and more mor*

D d 4 tified^

4it6 Having your Loins

tified, this was never his desiorn. Like some slighty tradesman^
that never durst look so high as lo think of being rich, but
thinks it well enough, if he can but hold his shop doors open,
and keep himself out of the jail, though with a thousand shifting
tricks.

»»»%«»%^i%i%»^»^>%%%<»»^i%>%i»^%^%%»%%^

CHAP. XIII.

A Word of Direction to those who, upon Trial^ are found Un-
sound and False 'Hearted, \

*rTAVING laid down the characters of the sincere heart, it will
"*"*• be necessary to make some improvement of them, as the re-
port shall be that conscience makes in your bosoms, upon putting
yourselves to the trial of your spiritual states by the sauie. ^ow
the report that conscience makes, after examination of yourselves
by those notes prefixed, will amount to one of these three in-
ferences. Either it will condemn thee for a hypocrite, or pro-
nounce thee a sincere Christian ; or thirdly, bring tbee in an ig-
noramus, and leave thee in doubt whether thou beest sinceie or
not. That I may therefore find thee, reader, at one door, if I
miss thee at another, I shall speak severally to all three.

First, To such who upon the trial are cast ; evidence comes
in so clear and strong against them, that their conscience cannot
but tell them plainly, if these be the marks of sinceriiy,then they
are hypocrites. The improvement I would make of thi*^ trial
for your sakes, is to give a woi d of counsel, what in this case yon
are to do, that you may become sincere.

1. Get thy heart deeply affected with thy present dismal state.
No hope of cure till thou beest chased into some sense and feel-
ing of thy deplored state. ' Physic cannot be given so \oX\g as
the patient is asleep ; and it is the nature of this disease to make
the soul heavy-eyed, and dispose it to a kind of slumber of con-
science, by reason of the flattering thoughts the hypocrite hath
of himself, from some formalities he performs above others in re-
ligion, which fume up from his deceived heart (like so many
pleasing vapours, from the stomach to the head), and bind up his
Spiritual senses into a kind of stupidity, yea, cause many pleasing
dreams to entertain him with vain hopes and false joy, which
vanish as soon as he wakes, and comes to himself. The Phari-
sees, the most notorious hypocrites of their age, how fast asleep
were they in pride and carnal confidence, despising all the world
in comparison of themselves, not afraid to commend themselves

to

Girt about vaith Truth, 427

to God, yea, prefer themselves before others. God^ I thank thee^
I am not like this Publican : as if they would tell God, they
did look to find some more respect from him than others (so far
beneath them) had at his hand : Therefore Christ, in his dealing
with this proud generation of men, useth an unusual strain of
speech ; his voice, which to others was still and soft, is heard like
thunder breaking out of the clouds, when he speaks to them. ^-
fiow many dreadful claps have we almost together in the same
chapter fall on their heads, out of the mouth of our meek and
sweet Saviour, Mat. xxiii. Woe untoyou^ Scribe.^ and Pharisees!
Ko less than eight woes doth Christ discharge upon them, as so
many case-shot together, that, by multiplying the woes, he might
shew not only the certainty of the hypocrite's damnation, but
precedency also ; and yet how many of that rank do we read of
to be awakened and converted by these sermons ! Some few
there were indeed, that the disease might appear not incurable ;
but very few, that we may tremble the more of falling into it, or
letting it grow upon us. Peter learnt of his Master how to
handle the hypocrite, who, having to do with one far gone in this
disease, Simon Magus, Acts viii. 21. he steeps his words, as it
were, in vinegar and gall : Thou hast neither part nor lot in this
matter^ for thy heart is not right in the sight of God, There he
lays the weight of his charge, that he carried a hypocritical heart
in his bosom, whic^ was a thousand times worse than his simonai-
cal fact (though that foul enough) ; it was not barely that fact,
but proceeding from a heart inwardly rotten and false (which
God gave Peter an extraordinary spirit to discern), that proved
him to be in the gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity ; only in
this better than the damned souls in hell, they were in the tire,
he in the bond of iniquity, like a faggot bound up, fit for it, but not
cast in : they past hope, and he so much left as might amount to a
perhaps^ if the thought of his heart might be forgiven. To give
but one instance more, and that is of a whole church, hypocritical
Laodicea: the Spirit of God takes her up more sharply than all
the rest, which, though he charged with some particular miscar-
riages, yet finds something among them he owns and commends ;
but in her, because she was conceited already (as this leaven of
hypocrisy naturally puffs up), he mentions nothing that was good
in her, lest it should feed that humour that did so abound already,
and take away the smartness of the reproof, which was the only
probable means left of recovering her. All that inclines to sleep
is deadly to a lethargic ; and all that is soothing, and cockering,
dangerous to hypocrites. Some say, the surest way to cure a
lethargy is to turn it into a fever ; to be sure, the safest way to
deal with hypocrites is to bring them from their false peace,
to a deep sense of their true misery. Let this, then, be thy first

work ;

4fS Having rfoiir Loitis

work ; aggravate thy sin, and put tby soul into mourning for it*;
When a person was by the priest, who was to judge in case of
leprosy, pronounced unclean, the leper tiius convicted, vjas to
rend his clothes^ go bare-headed^ and put a covering upon his
upper lip (all ceremonies used by mourners), and to cry, unclean^
unclean^ Lev. xiii. 45. Thus do thou, as a true mourner, sit
down, and lament this plague of thy heart ; cry out bitterlj^, un-
clean^ unclean I atn, not fit by reason of thy hypocritical heart
to come near God or his saints, but to be, like the leper, separate
from both ; if thou hadst such a loathsome disease reigning on
thee, as did pollute the very seat thou sittest on, bed thou liest
on, and drop such filthiness on every thing thou comest near, that
should make all abandon thy nasty company, how great would
thy sorrow be, as thou didst sit desolate and musing alone of thy
doleful condition ? Such a state thy hypocrisy puts thee into ; a
plague it is, more offensive to God than such a disease could
make thee to men ; it runs like a filthy sore through all the du-
ties and goodly coverings that you can put over it, and defiles
them and thee so, that God will take an offering out of the devil's
hand as soon as out of thine, while thou continuest a hypocrite ;
and did the saints of God (with whom thou hast, may be, so much
credit, as to be admitted to join with them at present) know
thee, they would make as much haste from thee, as from him on
whom the}?^ should see the plague-tokens ; but should not thy
disease be known till thou art dead, and so thou keep thy repu-
tation with them, yea, possibly by them be thought, when thou
diest, a saint ; will this give thee any content in hell, that they
are speaking well of thee on earth ? O poor Aristotle (said one),
thou art praised- tvhere thou art not, and burnt where thou art /
He meant it was poor comfort to that great heathen philosopher
to be admired by men of learning, that have kept up his fame
from generation to generation, if he be all the while miserable in
the other world ; so here, O poor hypocrite, that art ranked
among saints on earth, but punished among devils in hell.

Secondly, When thy heart is deeply affected with the sin and
misery of thy hypocritical heart, thou must be convinced of thy
insufficiency to make a cure of thyself. Hypocrisy is like a fis-
tula sore : it may seem a little matter by the small orifice it hath,
but it is therefore one of the hardest among wounds to be cured,
because it is so hard to find the bottom of it. O take heed thy
heart doth not put a cheat upon thyself. It will be very forward
to promise it will lie no more, be false and hypocritical no more ;
but take counsel of a wise man, who bids thee not rely on what
it saith : He is a fool that trusts his oum heart, Prov. xxviii. 2,
O how many die, because loth to be at pains and cost to go to a
skilful physician at first I Take heed of selt^resolutions, and self-
reformations ;

Girt about with Truth. 429

reformations ; sin is like the kin^^s^evtl ; God, not ourselves,
can cure it. He that will be tinkering with his owu heart, and
not seek out to heaven for help, will in the end find, where he
mends one hole, he makes two worse ; where he reforms one sin,
he will fall into the hands of many more dangerous.

Thirdly, Betake thyself to Christ as the physician^ on whose
skill and faithfulness thou wilt rely entirely for cure. If thou
perish, resolve to perish at his door. But for thy comfort know,
never any that he undertook miscarried under his haud, nor ever
refused he to undertake the cure of auy that came to him on such
an errand. He blamed those hypocrites, John v. 40, 43. because
they were ready to throw away their lives, by trusting an e/u-
pyric, who should come in his own name, without any approba-
tion or authority from God for the work, but would not covie to
him that they might have life^ though he came in his Father's
name^ and had his seal and licence to pi^ctise his skill on poor
sonls for their recovery. And he that blamed those for not coin-
ing, will not, cannot be angry with thee who comest. It is his
calling, and men do not use to thrust customers out, but invite
them into their shops. When Christ was on earth, he gave this
reason why he conversed so much with Publicans and sinners,
and so little among the Pharisees, because there was more worl^
for him. Mat. ix. 11, 12. Men set up where they think trade
will be quickest. Christ came to be a physician to sick souls :
the Pharisees were so well in their own conceit, that Christ sawr
he should have little to do among them, and so he applied himself
to those who were more sensible of their sickness. If thou, poor
soul, beest but come so far as to groan under thy cursed hypocrisy,
and directest these thy groans in a piuyer to heaven for Christ's
help, thou shalt liave thy physician soon with thee, never fear it.
He hath not, since he asceuded, laid down his calling, but still
follows his practice as close as ever ; we find him sending his ad-
vice from heaven in that excellent receipt, Kev. iii. to Laodicea,
what she should do for her recovery out of this very disease of
hypocrisy. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the jire^
that thou mayest be in£h^ and white raiment^ that thou mayest
be clothed^ &cc. as if he had said, Laodicea, thou tradest in false
ware, deceiving thysejf and others with appearances for realities,
counterfeit graces for true ; thy gold is dross, thy garments rotten
rags, which do not hide, but discover thy shame ; come to me,
and thoa shalt have that which is for thy turn, and better, cheap
also ; for though here is mention of buying, no more is meant than
to come with a buyer's spiiit, valuing Christ and his grace so
high, that if they were to be bought, though with all the money
in thy purse, yea, blood ia thy veins, tliou wouldst have them, and

not

430 Having your JLoins

not go home, and say thou wert hardly used. 'Tis the thirsty
soul that shall be satisfied ; only look thy thirst be right and
deep.

First, Right ; a heart-thirst, and not simply a conscience-
thirst. It is a very different heat that causeth the one and the
other. Hell-fire may enflame the conscience, so as to make the
thirsty sinner thirst for Christ's blood to quench the torment
which the wrath of God hath kindled in his bosom. But it is
heaven-fire, and only that which begets a kindly heat in the
heart, that breaks out in longings of soul for Christ and his Spirit,
with sweet cooling dews of grace to slack and extinguish the fire
of lust and sin.

Again, Look it be deep. Physicians tell us of a thirst which
comes from the dryness of the throat, and not any great inward
heat of the stomach ; and this thirst may be quenched with a gar-
gle in the mouth, which is spit out again, and goes not down.—
And truly there is something like this in many that sit under the
preaching of the gospel. Some light touches are now and then
found upon the spirits of men and women, occasioned by some
spark that falls on their affections in hearing the word, whereby
they on a sudden express some desires after Christ and his grace,
that you would think they would in all haste for heaven ; but
being slighty flashes, and weak velleities, rather than strong vo-
litions and deep desires, their heat is soon over, and thirst quench-
ed with a little present sweetness they taste when they are hearing
a sermon of Christ (which they spit out again as soon as they are
gone home almost) as well as may be, though they never enjoy
more of him. Labour therefore for such a deep sense of thy own
wretchedness, by reason of thy hypocrisy, and of Christ's excel-
lency by reason of that fulness of grace in him, which makes him
able to cure thee of thy distemper ; that as a man thoroughly a-
thirst can be content with nothing but drink, and not a little of
that neither, but a full satisfying draught whatever it costs him,
so thou mayest not be bribed with any thing besides Christ and
his sanctifying grace, nor with gifts, profession or pardon itself,
if it could be severed from grace, no not with a little sparkling of
grace, but long for whole floods, wherewith thou mayest be fully
purged and freed of thy cursed lust which now so sadly oppresseth
thee. This frame of spirit would put thee under the promise
(heaven's security) that thou shalt not lose thy longing ; if thou
shouldst ask silver and gold, and seek any worldly enjoyment, at
this rate thou mightst spend thy breath and pains in vain ; God
might let thee roar (like Dives in hell^ in the midst of those flames
which thy covetous heart hath kindled, without affording a drop
of that to cool thy tongue, which thou so violently pantest after.
But if Christ and his grace be the things thou woiUdst have, yea,

must

Girt about Auith Truth* 431

must have, truly then thou shalt have them. Matt. v. 6. Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness^ for
they shall he satisfied*

CHAP. XIV.

An Exhortation to those who upon Trial are found to he true m
Heart, or sincere, to wear this Belt close girt to them in the
daily Exercise of it ; with Directions for that Purpose*

T Come to the second sort, such (I mean) whose consciences,
-^ upon diligent enquiry, give a fair testimony for their sincerity,
that their hearts are true and upright. That which I have by
way of counsel to leave with them, is to gird this belt which they
have about them, close, in the exercise and daily practice of it. —
Gird this belt, I say, close to thee ; that is, be very careful to
walk in the daily practice and exercise of thy uprightness. Think
every morning thou art not dressed till this girdle be put on. —
The proverb is true here, ungirt unhlest ; thou art no company
for God that day, in which thou art not sincere. If Abraham
will walk with God, he must be upright ; and canst thou live a
day without his company ? Rachel paid dear for her mandrakes,
to part with her husband for them; aworse bargain that soul makes,
that to purchase some worldly advantage pawns its sincerity ;
which gone, God is sure to follow after. And as thou canst not
walk with God, so not expect any blessing from God ; the pro-
mises, like a box of precious ointment, are kept to be broke over
the head of the upright, Mic. ii. 7. Do not my words do good to
him that walkeih uprightly ? And sure it is ill walking in that
way, where there is found no word from God to bid us good
speed; some are so superstitious, that if a hare crosseth them,
they will turn back, and go no farther that day. But a bold man
is he, that dares go on when the word of God lies cross his way.
Where the word doth not bless, it curseth ; where it promiseth
not, it threatens : A soul in its uprightness, approving itself to
God, is safe (like a traveller going about his lawful business be-
twixt sun and sun) ; if any harm or loss comes to such a soul,
God will bear him out ; the promise is on his side : by pleading
it, he may recover his loss at God's hands, who stands bound to
keep hira harmless. See, to this purpose, Psal. Ixxxiv. 11. But
they are directions, not motives, I am in this place to give.

SECT. I. — First, Therefore, if thou wouldst walk in the exer-
cise of thy sincerity, walk in the view of God, That of Luther

is

432 Having y6ur Loins

is most true: All the commands are wrapt up In tlie first; for,
saith he, all sin is a contempt of God ; and so we cannot break
any other commands but we break the first. We think amiss of
God, before we do amiss against God : This God commended to
Abraham, as of sovereign use to preserve his sincerity ; Walk be-
fore me, and be thou upright. Gen. xvii. 1. This kept Moses's
girdle straight and close to his loins, that he was neither bribed
with the treasures of Egypt, nor brow-beaten out of his sincerity,
with the auger of so great a king, Heb. xi. 27. For he endured^
as seeing him who was invisible. He had a greater than Pharaoh
in his eye, and this kept him right.

1. Walk^ Christian, in the view of God^s omniscience ; this
is a girding consideration ; say to thy soul, Take heed, God seeth.
It is under the rose (as the common phrase is) that treason is
spoken, when subjects think they are far enough from their king's
hearing ; but did such know the prince to be under the window,
or behind the hangings, their discourse would be more loyal. —
This made David so upright in his walking, Psal. cxix. 168. 1
have kept thy precepts, for all my ways are before thee. If
Alexander's empty chair, which his captains, when they met in
counsel, set before them, did awe them so, as to keep thera in
good order j what would it, for to set God looking on us in our
eye? The .Tews covered Christ's face, and then buffeted him,
Mark xiv. 65. So does the hypocrite, he first saith in his hearty
God sees not ; or, at least, he forgets that he sees, and then
ntiakes bold to sin against him : Like that foolish bird, which runs
htr head among the reeds, and thinks herself safe from the fowler,
as if because she did not see him, therefore he could not see her.
T may hide thee from my eye^ but not wy self from thine^ Thou
wiayest, poor creature, hide God by thy ignorance and atheism,
so that thou shalt not see him, but thou canst not so as he shall
not see thee. All things are naked and open unto the eyes of
him with tvhom we have to do* O remember thou hast to do with
God in all thou dost, whether thou art in shop or closet, church
or market ; and he will have to do with thee, for he sees thee
round, and can tell from whence thou comest, when, like Gehazi
before his master, thou enterest into his presence, and standest
demurely before him in his worship, as if thou hadst been no
where ; then he can tell thee thy thoughts, and without any la-
bour of pumping them out by thy confession, set thera in order
before tht^e; j^ea, thy thoughts that are gone from thee (like Ne-
buchadnezzar's dream from him), and tliou hast forgot what they
were at such a time, and at such a place, forty, fifty years ago,
God hath thera all in the light of his countenance, as atoms are
in the beams of the sun ; and he can, yea, will give thee a sight
of them, that they shall walk in thy conscience, to thy horror,
as John Baptist's ghost did in Herod's. 2. Walk

Girt about with Truth. 4SS

2. Walk in the view of his providence and care over thee ;
when God bids Abraham be upright, he strengthens his faith on
him ; 1 am God Ahuigkty, walk before me, and be perfect ; as
if he had said, Act thou for me, and I will take care of thee :
when once we begin to call his care in question towards us, then
will our sincerity faulter in our walking before him ; hypocrisy
lies hid in distrust and jealousy as in its cause j if the soul dare
not rely on God, it cannot be long true to God. Abraham was
jealous of Abimelech, therefore he dissembled with him ; thus do
we with God ; we doubt God's care, and then live by our wit,
and carve for ourselves ; Up, make Us gods, say they, we know
not what is become of Moses* The unbelieving Jews, flat against
the command of God, kept manna for the morrow, Exod. xvi,
19. and why ? but because they had not faith to trust him for
another meal. This is the old weapon the devil hath ever used
to beat the Christian out of his sincerity with. Curse God, and
die, said he to Job, by his wife, Job ii. 9. As if she bad said.
What ? wilt tKou yet hold the castle of thy sincerity for God ?
Captains think they may yield, when no relief comes to them ;
and subjects make account, if the prince Jirotect not them, they
are not bound to serve him. Thou hast lain thus long in an af*
flicted state, besieged tjlose with sorrows on every hand, and no
news to this day comes from heavten of any care that God takes
for thee ; therefore curse God and die : Yea, Christ had him
using the same engine to draw him ofFfrom his faithfulness to his
father, when he bad him turn stones into bread. We see thew-
fore of what importanee it is to strengthen our faith on the care
and providence of God for our provision and protection ; which
is the cause why God hath made such abundant provision, to shut
ail doubting and fear of this out of the hearts of his people.-*.
The promises are so fitly placed, that as safe harbours, upon what
coast soever we be sailing, or what condition soever we are in,
if any storm arise at sea, or enemy chase Us, wc may put into
some one or other of them, and be safe, though this one were
enough, could we find no more to serve Our turn, 2 Chion. xvi.
9. The eyes of the Lord rmitonndfro thtonghout the whole
earth, to shew himself strong in behalf of them (or strongly to
hold with them) whose heart is perfect to-war^s him : God doth
not set others to watch, but his own eyes keep centinel ; now to
watch with the child, like the own mother, there is the imitte-
diacy of his providence.; we may say of sincere souls, what is
said of Canaan, Deut. xi. 9, 10. It is a land (so they are a peo-
ple) the Lord himself caret k for, his eifes are always on them. —
Again, his eyes run to and fro : there is the vigilance of his pro-
vidence ; no danger, no temptation finds him sleeping : but as a
faithful watchman is ever walking up and down, so the eyes of

God

434 Jlavmg^our Lotn^

God run to and fro. He that keepetJi Israel (the sincere sotilj,
which is the Israelite indeed) shall neither slumber nor sleepf
Psalm cxxi. 4. ; that is, not little nor much ; not slumber by day,
nor sleep by night : two words are there used, one that signifies
the short sleep used in the heat of the day, the other for the more
sound sleep of the night.

3. Throughout the whole earth : there is the umversaltfy and
extent of God's care j 'tis an encompassing providence, it walks
the rounds : not any one sincere soul left out of the line of his
care. He has the number of them to a man, and all are alike
cared for. We disfigure the beautiful face of God's providence,
when we fancy him to have a cast of his eye, and care to one
more than another.

4. To shew himself strong in the behalf of them : there is the
efficacy of his care and providence ; his eyes do not run to and
fro to espy dangers, and only tell us what they are ; as the cen-
tinel wakes the city when any enemy comes, but cannot defend
it from their fury. A child may do this, yea, the geese did
this for Rome's capitol. But God watcheth not to tell us
our dangers, but to save us from them ; the saints must needs be
a happy people, because a people saved by the Lord^ Deut,
xxxiii. 29. God doth not only see with his eyes, but also fights
with his eyes. He gave such a look to the Egyptians, as turned
the sea on them to their destruction.

SECT. II. — Secondly, Labour to act from love, and not fear.
Slavish fear and sincerity cannot agree ; if one be on the increase,
the other is in the wane always. See them opposed, 2 Tim. i.
7. God hath not given us the spiHt of fear j but ofpower^ oflove^
and of a sound mind^ that is, sincere ; where he implies that fear
is weak and impotent, easily scared from God, his truth, and ser-
vice ; and not so only, but unsound also ; not trusting such a one
with any great matter. The slave, though he works hard, be-
cause indeed he dares no other, yet is soon drawn into a con-
spiracy against his master, because he hates him while he fears
him ; we see this not only among the Turks (against whom those
Christians used as absolute slaves by them in their galleys, do,
when they have advantage in fight, often purchase their own liber-
ty, by cutting the throats of their tyrant masters), but also in
kingdoms, where subjects rather fear than love their princes, how
ready they are to invite another into the throne, or welcome any
that should court them ; thus fast and loose will he be with God,
that is pricked on with the sword's point of his wrath, and not
drawn with the cords of his love. Israel is an example beyond
pai^allel for this : When Gaict slew them^ they sought offer him ;
Tievertheless they did flatter him with their mouthy and they lied
unto him with their tongue ; for their heart was not right with

himj

Girt about with Truth. 435

him. Psalm Ixxviii. 34, 35. They feared God, and loved their
lusts, and therefore they betrayed his glory at every turn into
their hands ; as Herod did John's head, whom he feared, into her
hands whom he loved. And truly there is too much of this slav-
ish fear to be found in the saints' bosoms, or else the whip should
not be so often found in God's hand. We find God checking his
people for this, and making their servile spirit the reason of his
severity towards them. Is Israel a servant , a home-borji slave 9
Why is he spoiled? Jer. ii. 14. As if God had said. What is
the reason that I must use thee, who art my dear child, as coarsely
as if thou wert a servant, a slave, laying on blow alter blow upon
thy back with such heavy judgments ? Wouldst thou know ?
read ver. 17. Hast thou not procured this to thyself^ in that thou
hast forsaken the Lord thy God, uhen he led thee by the way ?
Thou mayest thank thyself for this my unusual dealing with thee.
If the child vvill forget his own ingenuity, and nothing but blows
will work with him, then the father must deal with his child ac-
cording to his servile spirit. When God led Israel by the way,
as a father his child, lovingly, he flung from him ; and if they
would not lead by love, then no wonder he makes them drive by
fear. O Christian, act more by love, and thou wilt save God's
putting thee into fear with his whip ; love will keep thefe close
and true to him. The very character of love is. It seeks not her
own^ I Cor. xiii. 5. And what is it to be sincere, but when the
Christian seeks Christ's, interest, and not his own ? Jonathan
loved David dearly, this made him incur his father's wrath, tram-
ple on the hopes of a kingdom, which he had for him and his
posterity, rather than be false to his friend. Lot delivers up his
daughters to the lust of the Sodomites, rather than his guests. —
Sampson could not conceal that great secret from Dalilah whom
he loved, wherein his strength lay, though it was as much as his
life was worth to blab it to her. Love is the great conqueror of
the world. Thus will thy soul, being inflamed with love to Christ,
set thy worldly interest adrift, rather than put his honour to the
least hazard. Abraham did not more willingly put his sacrificing
knife to the ram's throat, to save his dear Isaac's life, than thou
wilt be to sacrifice thy life to keep thy sinceiity alive. Love is
compared to fire, the nature of which is, to assimilate to itself all
that comes near it, or to consume them : It turns all into fire or
ashes ; nothing that is heterogeneous can long dwell with its own
simple pure nature. Thus love to Christ will not suffer the near
neighbourhood of any thing in its bosom, that is derogatory to
Christ ; either it will reduce or abandon it, be it pleasure, profit,
or whatever else ; Abraham, who loved Hagar aud Ishmael in
their due place, when the one began to jostle with her mistress,
and the other jeer and mock at Isaac, he pucks them both out of

£ e doors :

436 Mating ;your Louis

doors : Love to Christ will not suffer thee to side with any thing
against Christ, bat take his part with him against any that oppose
him, and so long thy sincerity is out of danger.

SECT. III. — Thirdly, Meditate often on the simplicity and
sincerity of God's heart to his saints. What more powerful con-
sideration can be thought on, to make us true to God, than the
faithfulness and truth of God to us ? Absalom, though as vile a
dissembler as lived, yet when Hushai came to him, he suspected
him. 2 Sam. xvi. 17. And Absalom said to Hushai^ Is this thy
Mndnesd to thy friend .* Why wentest thou not out to thy /He fid ?
His own conscience told him, it was horrible baseness for him that
bad found David such a true friend, now to join in rebellious
arms against him ; and though Absalom that said this, did offer
great violence to this law of love, yet he questioned, it seems,
whether any durst be so wicked besides himself ? When therefore.
Christian, thou tindest thy heart warping into any insincere prac-
tice, lay it under this consideration, and if any thing of God and
his grace be in thee, it will unbend thee, and bring thee to rights
again. Ask thy soul. Is this thy kindness to thy friend ? Such
a friend as God hath been, is, and surely will be to thee for ever ?
God, when his people sin, to put them to the blush, asks them.
Whether he gives them any cause for their unkind and undutiful
carriage to him ? Thus saith the Ijordy What iniquity have your
fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me ? Jer. ii. 5.
So Moses intending to pay Israel home (before he goes up and
dies on Nebo) for all their hypocrisy, murmuring, and horrible
rebellions against God, all along from first setting out of Egypt
to that day, he brings in their charge, and draws out the several
indictments they were guilty of. Now to add the greater weight
to every one, he, in the fore- front of all his speech, shews what
a God he is that they have done all this against.

He makes way to the declaiming against their sins, by the pro-
claiming the glory of God agiiinst whom they were committed,
Deut. xxxii. S. 1 will publish the name of God : ascribe ye greats
ness to our God ; and very observable it is, what of God's name
he publisheth, the more to aggravate their sins, and help them to
conceive of f their heinous nature, ver. 4. He is thy rock, his
work is perfect ; a God of truth, and without iniquify^ just and
right is he : he chooseth to instance in the truth and sincerity of
God's heart to them in all his dispensations, as that which might
make them most ashamed of their doings. 'Now because this one
consideration may be of such use to hedge in the heart, and keep
it close to God in sincerity, I shall shew wherein the truth and
sincerity of God's love appears to his saints, every one of which
will furnish us with a strong argument to be sincere and upright
with God,

1. The

Gir/ about with Tiidh, 457

1. The sincerity of God*s heart appears in the principle he
acts from, and end he aims at, in all his dispensations. Love is
the principle he constantly acts from, and their good the end he
propounds ; from these he never swerves ; the fire of love never
goes out of his heart, nor their good out of his eye : when he
frowns with his brow, chides with his lips, and strikes w4th his
hand, even then his heart burns with love, and his thoughts me-
ditate peace to them. Famous is that place for this purpose, Jer.
xxiv. 5. I will acknowledge them that are carried away captive
of Judah^ whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the
Chaldeans for their good^ I will set mine eyes on them for good :
and this was one of the sharpest judgments that God ever brought
upon his people, and yet in this he is designing mercy, and pro-
jecting how to do them good. So in the wilderness, when they
cried out upon Moses for bringing them thither to kill them, they
%vere more afraid than hurt ; God wished them better than they
dreamed of; his intent was to humble them^ that he might do
them good in the latter end. So sincere is God to his people,
that he gives his own glory in hostage to them for their security ;
his own robes of glory are locked up in their prosperity and sal-
ration ; he will not, indeed he cannot, present himself in all his
magnificence and royalty, till he bath made up his intended
thoughts of mercy to his people ; he is pleased to prorogue the
time of his appearing in all his glory to the world, till he hath ac-
tually accomplished their deliverance, that he and they may come
forth together in their glory, on the same day, Psal. cii. 16.
When the Lord shall buildup Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
The sun is ever glorious in the most cloud j^ day, but appears not
so till it hath scattered the clouds that muffle it up from the sight
of the lower world ; God is glorious when the world sees him not ;
but his declarative glory then appears, when the glory of his mercy,
truth, and faithfulness, breaks forth in his people's salvation. —
Now what shame must this cover thy face with, O Christian, if
thou shouldst riot sincerely aim at thy God's glory, who loves
thee, yea all his children, so dearly, as to ship his own glory and
your happiness in one bottom, that he cannot now lose the one,
and save the other !

2. The truth and sincerity of God to his people, appears in
the openness and plainness of his heart to them. A friend that is'
close and reserved, deservedly comes under a cloud in the thoughts
of his friend ; but he who carries, as it were, a window of chrys-
tal in his breast, through which his friend may read what thoughts
are writ in his very heart, delivers himself from the least suspicion
of unfaithfulness. Truly thus open-hearted is God to his saints.
2Vie secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, Psal. xxv.
14. lie gives us bis key, that will let us into his very heart,

£ e 2 and

438 Having yBur Loins

and acquaint us what Ins thoughts are, yea were, towards us^
before a stone was laid in the world's foundation, and this is no
other than his Spirit, 1 Cor. iii. one who knows the deep things
of God : for he was at the council-table in heaven, where all was
. transacted ; this his Spirit he employed to put forth and publish
in the scripture (indited by him^ the substance of those counsels
of love, which had passed between the Trinity of Persons, for our
salvation ; and that nothing may be wanting for our satisfaction,
he hath appointed the same holy Spirit to abide in his saints, that
as Christ in heaven presents our desires' to him, so he may inter-
pret his mind out of his word to us ; which word answers the
heart of God, as face answers face in the glass. There is noth-
ing desirable in a true friend, as to this openness of heart, but
God performs in a transcendent manner to his people. If any
danger hangs over their heads, he cannot conceal it : jBz/ them^
saith David, is thy servant warned (speakiug of the word of
God) ; one messenger or other God will send to give his saints
the alarm, whether their danger be from sin within, or enemies
without. Hezekiah was in danger of inward pride ; God sends
a temptation to let him know what was in his heart, that he might,
b^' falling once, be kept from falling again. Satan had a project
against Peter, Christ gives him notice of it, Luke xxii. If any
of his children by sin displease him, he doth not (as false friends
usej dissemble the displeasure he conceives, and carry it fair out-
wardly with them, while he keeps a secret grudge against them
inwardly ; no, he tells them roundly of it, and corrects them
soundly for it, but entertains no ill-will against them ; and when
he leads his people to an afflicted state, he loves them so that he
cannot leave them altogether in the dark, concerning the thoughts
of love he hath to them in delivering theiu ; but to comfort them
in the prison, doth open his heart before hand to them, as we see
in the greatest calamities that have befallen the Jewibh church in
Egypt and Babylon, as also the gospel-church under Antichrist.
The promises for the deliverance out of all these were expressed
before the sufferings came. When Christ was on earth, how
free and open was he to his disciples, both in telling them what
calamities should befall them, and the blessed issue of them all,
when he should come again to them ? And why ? but to confirm
them in the persuasion of the sinceritj^ of his heart towards them,
as those words import, John xiv. If^it were not so, I would have
told you : As if he had said, It would not have consisted with
the sincere love I bear to you, to hide any thing that is fit for you
to know from vou, or make them otherwise than they are. And
when he doth conceal any truths from them for the present, see
his candour and sincerity, opening the reason of his veiling them
to be, not that he grudged them the communication of them, but

because

Gtrt abmit with Truth, 439

because they could not at present bear them. Now, Christian,
improve all this, to make thee more plain-hearted with God. Is
he so free and open to thee, and wilt thou be so reserved to him ?
Doth thy God unbosom his mind to thee, and wilt not thou pour
out all thy soul to him ? Darest thou not trust him with thy se-
crets, that mal&es thee privy to his counsels of love and mercy ?
In a word, darest thou for shame go about to harbour and hide
from him any traitorous lust in thy soul, whose love will not suffer
him to conceal any danger from thee ? God, who is so exact and
true to the law of friendship with his people, expects the like in-
genuity from them.

Thirdly, The sincerity of God's heart and affection to his peo-
ple appears in the immoveableness of his love. As there is no
shadow of turning in the being of God, so not in the love of God
to his people ; there is no vertical point ; his love stands still ;
like the sun in Gibeah, it goes not down, nor declines, but con-
tinues in its full strength, Isa. liv. 7. Witk everlasting kindness
will I have mercy on thee^ saith the Lord^ tlnj Redeemer — -
Sorry man repents of his love ; the hottest affection cools in his
bosom ; love in the creature is like fire on the hearth, now blad-
ing, anon blinking and going out; but in God, like fire in the
element, that never fails. In the creature, 'tis like water in a
river, that falls and rises ; but in God, like water in the sea,
that is always full, and knows no ebbing or flowing. Nothing
can take off his love where he hath placed it ; it can neither be
corrupted nor conquered ; attempts are made both ways, but ia
vain.

1. His love cannot be corrupted. There have been such, that
have dared to tempt God, and court, yea, bribe the holy one of
Israel, to desert and come off from his people. Thus Balaam
went to win God over to Balak's side against Israel ; which to
obtain, he spared no cost, but built altar after altar, and heaped
sacrifice upon sacrifice ; yea, what would they have not done to
liave gained but a word or two out of God's mouth against his
people ? But he kept true to them ; yea, left a brand of his dis-
pleasure upon that nation for hiring Balaam, and sending him on
such an errand to God, Deut. xxxiii. 4. This passage we find
of God minding his people, to continue in them a persuasion of
his sincere stedfast love to them, Micah vi. 5. O my people, re-
member what Balakj king of Moab, consulted^ and what Balaam,
the son of Beor^ answered him^ from Shittim unto Gilgal : And
why should they remember this ? That they may hiow the righ-
teousness of the Lord ; that is, that you may know how true
and faithful a God I have been to you. Sometimes he makes use
of it to provoke them to be sincere to him, as he in that proved
himself to them, Josh. xxiv. 9. He tells them how Balak sent

E e 3 Balaam

440 Having your Loma

Balaam to set God a-cursing them; hut^ saith the L®rd, I would
not hearken to them^ but made him that came to curse you, with
his own lips entail a blessing on you and yours ; and why is this
story mentioned ? See ver. 14. Now therefore fear the Lord^
and serve him in sincerity and truth : A most natural and rea-
sonable inference from the premises of God's truth and faithful-
ness. O Christian, wouldst thou have thy love to God made in-
corruptible, embalm it often in thy thoughts with the sweet spices
of God's sincere love to thee, which is immortal, and cannot see
corruption. Believe God is true to thee, and be false to him if
thou darest. It is a solecism and barbarism in love, to return
falseness for faithfulness.

2. The love of God to his saints cannot be conquered. That
which puts it hardest to it, is not the power of his people's ene-
jnies (whether men or devils), but his people's sins. God makes
nothing of their whole power and wrath, when combined together j
but truly the sins of his people, these put omnipotency itself to
the trial. We never hear God groaning under, or complaining of
the power of his enemies, but often sadly of his people's sins and
nnkindnesses ; these load him, these break his heart, and make
him cry out, as if he were at a stand in his thoughts (to use a hu-
man expression), and found it not easy what to do, whether love
or leave them, vote for their life or death : well, whatever expres-
sions God useth, to make his people more deeply repent their un-
kindness shewn to him, yet God is not at a loss what to do in
this case ; his love determines his thoughts in favour of his co-
venant-people, when their carriage least deserves it, Hos. xi. 9.
The devil thought he had enough against Joshua, when he could
find some filth on his garment, to carry this in a tale, and tell
God what a dirty case his child was in j he made just account to
have set God against him, but he was mistaken ; for, instead of pro-
voking him to wrath, it moved him to pity ; instead of falling out
with him, he finds Christ praying for him, Zech. iii. Now im-
prove this in a meditation. Christian. Is the love of God so un-
conquerable, that thy very sins cannot break or cut the knot of
that covenant which ties thee to-him ? And does it not shame
thee, that thou shouldst be so fast and loose with him ? Thou
shouldst labour to have the very image of thy heavenly Father's
love more clearly stamped on the face of thy love to him. As
nothing can conquer his love to thee, so neither let any thing pre-
judice thy love to him. Say to thy soul. Shall not I cleave close
to God, when he hides his face from me, who hath not cast me
off, when I have sinfully turned my back on him ? Shall not I
give testimony to his truth and name (though others desert the
one, and reproach the other), who hath kept love burning iu his
heart to me, when I have been dishonouring him ? What, God

yet

Girt about with Truth. 441

yet on my side, and gracious to rae (after such backslidings as
these), and shall I again grieve his spirit, and put his love to shame
with more undutifulness ? God forbid ! This were to do my
utmost to make God accessary to my sin, by making his love fuel
for it.

SECT. IV. — Fourthly, Bevrare of presumptuous sins; these
give the deepest wound to uprightness, yea, are inconsistent with
it, Psaira xix. 1 3, Keep back thy servant from presumptuous
sins, let them not have dominion over «te, then shall 1 be upright.
One single act of presumption is inconsistent with the actual exer-
cise of uprightness ; as we see in David, who, by that one foul
sin of murder, lost the present use of uprightness, and was in that
particular too like one of the fools in Israel ; and it therefore
stands as the only exception to the general testimony which God
gave unto his uprightness, I Kings xv. 5. David did that tchick
was right in the eyes of the Lord^ and turned not aside from
any thing that he commanded him^ all the days of his life^ save
only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite* That is, there was no
such presumption in any other sin committed by him, and there-
fore they are here discounted (as to this), that they did not make
such a breach on his uprightness, as this one sin did. And as one
act of a sin, presumptuous, is inconsistent with actual uprightness,
so habitual uprightness is very hardly consistent with habitual
presumption ; if one act of a presumptuous sin, and, as I may so
say, one sip of this poisonous cup, doth so sadly infect the spirit
of a gracious person, and change his complexion, that he is not
like himself, how deadly must it be to all uprightness, to drink
from day to day of it ? And therefore, as Daniel purposed in his
heart, that he would not defile himself with the portion of the
King^s meat, Dan. xviii. so do thou daily put thyself under some
such holy bond, that thou wilt not defile thyself with any pre-
sumptuous sin ; for indeed this is properly the King^s meat, I
mean the devil's, that prince of darkness, who can himself commit
none but presumptuous sins, and chiefly labours to defile souls by
eating of this his dish ; say, as Austin in another case, I may err,
but I am resolved not to be an heretic. I may have many fail-
ings, but, by the grace of God, I'll labour that 1 be not a pre-
sumptuous sinner ; and if thou wouldst not be in a presumptuous
sin, take heed thou makest not light of less infirmities. When
David's heart smote him for rending the skirt of Saul, he stopt,
and made a happy retreat ; his tender conscience, giving him a
privy check for rending his skirt, would not suffer him to cut his
throat, and take away his life, which was better than raiment:
But at another time, when his conscience was more heavy-eyed,
and did not do this friendly office to him, but let him shoot his
amorous glances at Bathsheba, without giving him any alarm of

E e 4 his

44S Having Tfovr Loins

his danger, the good man, Hke one whose senses are gone, and
head dizzy at the first trip upon a steep hill, could not recover
himself, but tumbled from one sin to another, till at last he tell
into the deep pit of murder. When the river is frozen, a man
will venture to walk and run where he durst not set his foot, if
tjie ice were but melted or broke. O when the heart of a godly
man himself is so hardened, that he can stand on an infirmity
though ever so little, and his conscience not crack under liim,
how far may he go ? 1 tremble to think what sin he may fall
into.

SECT. V. — Fifthly, Get above the love and fear of the world.
The Christian's sincerity is not eclipsed without the interposition
of the earth betwixt God and his soul.

1. The love of the world, this is a fit root for hypocrisy to grow
upon ; if the heart be violently set upon any thing the world hath,
and it comes to vote peremptorily tor having it, I must be worth
so much a year, have such honour ; and the creature begins, with
Ahab, to be sick with longing after them ; then the man is in
great danger to take the first ill counsel that satan or the flesh
gives him for attaining his ends, though prejudicial to his upright-
ness. Hunters mind not the way they go in, over hedge and
ditch they leap, so they may have the hare.

It is a wonder, I confess, that any saint should have so strong
a scent after the creature, that hath the savour of Christ's oint-
ments poured into his bosom. One would think the sweet per-
fume, which comes so hot from those beds of spices, the promises,
should spoil the Christian's hunting-game after the creature, and
one scent should hinder the taking in the other ; the purer sweet-
nesses that breathe from Christ and heaven in them, should so
fill the Christian's senses, that the other enjoyments, being of more
gross and earthly savour, should leave no pleasing scent in his
nostrils ; which indeed is most true and certain so long as the
Christian hath his spiritual senses open, and in exercise : But
alas, as upon some cold in the body, the head is stopt, and the
senses bound up from doing their office, so through the Christian's
negligence, a spiritual distemper is easily got, whereby those
senses (graces 1 mean) which should judge of things, are sadly
obstructed, and now when the Christian is not in temper for en-
joying those purer sweetnesses, the devil hath a fair advantage
of starting some creature-enjoyment, and presenting it before the
Christian, which the flesh soon scents, and carries the poor Chris-
tian after it, till grace comes a little to its temper, and then he
gives over the chace with shame. and sorrow.

3. Get above the fear of the world. The fear of man brings
a snare. A coward will run into any hole, though ever so disho-
nourable, so he may save himself from what he fears ; and when

the

Girt about with TinUh* 443

the holiest are uncler the power of this temptation, they are too
like other men ; Abraham, in a pang of fear, dissembles with
Abimelech ; yea, Peter, when not his life, but his reputation
seemed to be in little danger, did not uuilk uprightly according to
the truth of the gospel ; he did not foot it right, as became so
holy a man to do, but took one step forward, and another back
again, as if he had not liked his way; now he will eat with the
Gentiles, and anon he withdraws ; now, what made him dissem-
ble, and his feet thus double in his going ? Nothing but a qualm
of fear that came over his heart, as you may see. Gal. ii. 12.
compared with ver. 14. Fearing them which were of the circum*
cibion, dissembled, and drew Olivers into a party with him.

SECT. IV. — Sixthly, and lastly. Keep a strict eye over thy
own heart in thy daily walking ; hypocrisy is a weed with which
the best soil is so tainted, that it needs daily care and dressing to
keep it under. He that rides on a stumbler, had need have his
eye on the way, and hand on his bridle ; such is thy heart, Chris,
tian, yea, it oft stumbles in the fairest way, when thou least
fearest it ; look to it therefore, and keep a strict rein over it ;
above all keepings keep thy heart, Prov. iv. 23. The servant
keeps his way when he travels in his master's company, but
when sent of an errand alone, then he hath his vagaries ; many a
wry step may be prevented, and exteavagancy in thy daily walk-
ing, didst thon walk in company with thyself (I mean, observe
thyself and way)» In this sense, most in the world are beside
themselves, strangers to their own walking, as much as to their
own faces ; every one that lives with them, knows them better
than themselves, which is a horrible shame. And let not so vain
an opinion find place with thee, that, because sincere, thou need-
est not have so strict an eye over thy heart ; as if thy heart,
which is gracious, could not play false with God and thee too ;
doth not Solomon brand him on the forehead for a fool, that trusts
his own heart ? If thou beest, as thou sayest, sincere, I cannot
believe self-love should so far prevail with thee ; they are the ig-
norant and prophane whose hearts are stark naught, that cry
them up for good : But it is one part of the goodness of a heart
made truly good by grace, to see more into, and complain more
of its own naughtiness. Bring thy heart therefore often upon the
review, and take its accounts solemnly ; he takes the way to
make his servant a thief, that doth not ask him now and then
what money he hath in his hand. I read indeed of some in good
Jehoiada's days that were trusted with the money for the repair
of the temple, with whom they did not so much as reckon how
they laid it out ; For they dealt faithfully^ 2 Kings xii. 15. but
thou hadst not best to do so with thy heart, lest it set thee on
score with God and thy own conscience, more than thou wilt get

wiped

444 Having your Loins

wiped out in haste. Many talents God puts into thy hand,
healthy liberty, Sabbaths, ordinances, communion ot* saints, and
the like, for the repair of thy spiritual temple, the work of grace
in thee ; ask now thy soul, how every one of these are laid out ;
may be thou wilt find some of this money spent, and the work
never a whit the more forward : It stands thee in hand to look to
it, for God will have an account, though tllou art favourable to
thy deceitful heart to call for none.

CHAP. XV.

Counsel and Comfort to those who are Sincere hut Drooping
Doubting Souls ; who neither are condemned absolutely in
their Consciences for Hypocrites, nor fully absolved from the
Suspicion of it m their own Thoughts.

YiyE have done with the second sort of persons ; those who,
~ ^ upon search, find their consciences bearing witness for their
uprightness.

Thirdly, There is a third sort remains yet to be spoken to,
and they are doubting souls, who are indeed sincere, but dare not
be persuaded to think so well of themselves. They come from
the trial which they were desired to put themselves upon, and
bring in an ignoramus, we know not whether we be sincere or
no. Noiv to these I would give these words of counsel j and the
Lord give his blessing with them !

SECT. I. — I. Take heed satan doth not draw you to con-
clude you are hypocrites, because you are without the present
evidence of your sincerity. To say so, were to offend against
the generations of God's dear children, many of w^hom must (if
this were a true inference from such premises) pass the same sen-
tence upon themselves ; for such precious souls there are, from
whose eyes the truth of their grace, and sincerity of their
hearts, are at this day hid, and yet are not without either. The
Patriarchs had their money all day bound up in their sacks as
they travelled, though they did not know this, till they came to
their inn, and opened them. Thus there is a treasure of sincerity
hid in many a soul, but the time to open the sack, and let the
soul know its riches, is not come. Many are now in heaven,
have shot the gulph, and are safely landed there, who were sadly
tossed with fears all along the voyage about the truth of grace in
them 5 faith unfeigned puts a soul into the ark Christ j but it

doth

Ctrl about with Truth. 445

doth not hinder but such a one may be sea-sick in the ship : 'tis
Christ's work, not grace's, to evidence itself to our ej^e so de-
monstratively as to enable us to own it. Besides an organ fitly
disposed, there is required a light to irradiate the vitdium i so
besides the truth of grace, it is necessary there be the spirit,
being another light, for want of which the soul is benighted in its
thoughts, and must cry for another, and he no other than the
Holy Spirit, to lead him into the light. This is the great mes-
senger which alone is able to shew a man Ms uprightness ; but
as the eye may be a seeing eye in the dark, where it doth not
see any thing, so there may be truth of grace, whiere there is not
present sense of that truth ; yea, the creature may be passionately
hunting from ordinance to ordinance, to get that sincerity which
it already hath ; as sometimes you may have seen one seek very
earnestly all about the house for his hat, when at the same time
he hath it on his head ; well, lay down this as a real truth in thy
soul ; I may be upright, though at present I am not able to see
it clearly. This, though it will not bring in a full comfort, yet
it may be some support till that come ; as a shore to thy weak
house, though it does not mend it, yet it will underprop and keep
it standing till the master workman comes, the Holy Spirit, who,
with one kind word to thy soul, is able to set thee right in thy
own thoughts, and make thee stand strong on the promise, the
only true basis and foundation of solid comfort. Be not more
cruel to thy soul (O Christian) than thou wouldst to thy friend's
(shall I say), yea, thine enemy's body ; should one, thou didst
not much love, lie sick in thy house, yea, so sick, that if you ask
him whether he be alive, he could not tell you (his senses and
speech being both at present gone), would you presently lay hiiu
out, and coffin him up for the grave, because you cannot have it
from his own mouth that he is alive? Surely not. O how un-
reasonable and bloody then is satan, who would presently have
thee put thyself into the pit-hole of despair, because thy grace is
not so strong as to speak for itself at present.

SECT. II. — 2. Let me send thee back for a better inquiry ;
look once again more narrowly, whether satan, that Joab, hath
not the great hand in these questions and scruples started in thy
bosom about thy sincerity, merely, as his last design upon thee,
that he may amuse and distract thee with false fears, when thou
wilt not be flattered with false hopes ? The time was when thou
wert really worse, and then by his means thou thoughtest thyself
better than thou wert. And now since thou hast changed thy
way, disowning thy former confidence, been acquainted with
Christ, and got some savour of his holy ways in thy spirit, so as
to make thee strongly breathe after him, thou art affrighted with
many apparitions of fears in thy sad thoughts, if not charging

thee

44)6 Having ^our Lotns

thee for an hypocrite, yet calling in question the truth of thy
heart. *Tis worth, I say, the inquiring, whether it be not the
same hand again, the devil, though knocking at another door :
no player hath so many dresses to come in upon the stage, as the
devil hath forms of temptation, and this a suit which he very or-
dinarily hath been known to wear. If it were thy case only,
thou raightest have some suspicion, lest these fears should be the
just rebukes of thine own heart ; but when thou iindest many of
thy fellow-brethren (whose sincerity thou darest not doubt, tho*
thou savest not so much charity for thyself), their complaints so
meet with thine, that no key (though made on purpose) can more
fit all the wards of a lock, than their condition doth thine ; this,
I say, may well make thee set about another search, to find whe-
ther he be not come forth a lying spirit, to abuse thy tender spirit
with such news, as he knows worse cannot come to thy ears, that
thou dost not love Jesus Christ, as thou pretendest, and deceivest
but thyself in thinking otherwise. 'I'hus this foul spirit (like a
brazen-faced whore that lays her child at an honest person's door)
doth impudently charge many with that which they are little guilty
of, knowing that so much will likely stick of his bold accusation,
to the poor Christian's spirit, as shall keep ihe door open to let in
another temptation which he much desires to convey into his bo-
som by the favour and under the shadow of this, and it is ordi-
narily this : to scare the Christian from duty, and knock off th©
wheels of his chariot, which used so often to carry him into the
presence of God in his ordinances, merely upon a suspicion that
he is not sincere in them, and better stay at home without hear-
ing, or joining with God's people in any other duty, than go up
and shew the naughtiness of thy heart, saith the devil. Had the
serpent a smoother skin and a fairer tale when he made Eve put
forth her hand to the forbidden fruit, than he comes with in this
temptation, to persuade the poor Christian not to touch or taste
of that fruit which God hath commanded to be eaten (ordinances,
I mean, to be enjoyed by thee^ ? Yet, Christian, thou hast rea-
son (if I mistake not) to bless God, if he suffers thine enemy so
far to open his mind, b}'^ which thou mayest have some light to
discover the wickedness of his design, in the other temptation of
questioning thy sincerity. Dost thou not now perceive, poor
soul, what made the loud cry of hypocrisy in thy ears ? The
devil did not like to see thee so busy with ordinances, nor thy ac-
quaintance to grow so fast with God in them, and he knew no
way but this to knock thee off. Bite at his other baits thou
vvouldst not ; sin, though ever so well cooked and garnished, is
not a dish for thy tooth, he sees, and therefore either he must af-
fright thee from these by troubling thy imagination with fears of
thy hypocrisy in them, or else he may throw his cap at thee,

and

Girt about with Truth, 447

and give thee over for one got out of his reach. Dost thou think,
poor soul, that if thy heart were so false and hypocritical in thy
duties, that he would naake all this bustle about them ? He doth
not use to misplace his batteries thus, to mount them where there
is no enemy to offend him ; thy hypocritical prayers and hearing
would hurt him no more, than if none at all. Neither doth he
use to be so kind, as to tell hypocrites of the falseness of their
hearts ; this is the chain with which ho, hath them by the foot,
and 'tis his great care to hide it from them, lest the rattling of it
in their conscience awaken them to some endeavour to knock it
off, and so make their escape out of his prison. Be therefore of
good comfort, poor soul; if thy conscience brings not scripture-
proof to condemn thee for au hypocrite, fear not the devil's
charge ; he shall not be on the bench when thou comest to be
tried for thy life, nor his testimony of any value at that day. —
Why then should his tongue be any slander to thee now ?

SECT. III. — 3. Neglect no means for the getting thy truth
of heart and sincerity evidenced to thee ; it is to he had. This is
the white stone with the new name on it^ which no man knotteth
but he that receives it^ promised, Rev. ii. 17. and 1 hope thou
dost not think this to be an imaginary thing, as the Philosopher's
stone is, which none could ever say, to this day, that he had it
in his hand. Holy Paul had this white stone sparkling in his con-
science more gloriously than all the precious stones in Aaron's
breast-plate. 2 Cor. i. 12. Our rejoicing is this^ the testimony
of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have
had our conversation in the world. And Job surely was uot
without it, when he durst with such a confidence appeal to the
thoughts that God himself had of him ; even then when God was
ransacking and searching every corner of his heart by his heavy
hand, Job X. 7. Thou knowest that I am not wicked : Mark, he
doth not deny that he had sin in him : that he confesses again
and again ; but that he was not wicked, /. e. a rotten-hearted hy-
pocrite, this he will stand to, that God himself will not say so
to him, though (for his trial) the Lord gives way to have him
searched, to stop the devil's mouth, and shame him, who was not
afraid to lay suspicion of this spiritual felony to his charge.

Object, But may be thou wilt say, these were saints of the
highest form, and though they might come to see their sincerity,
and have this white stone in their bosoms, yet such jewels cannot
be expected to be worn by ordinary Christians.

Answ, For answer to this, consider that the weakest Christian
in God's family hath the same witness in him that those had, 1
John V. 10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the wit-
ness in him. Mark, 'tis indefinite, every one that believeth: not
this eminent Christian, or that, but every one. The witness^ the

^ame

448 Having xjour JLoins

same Christ and Spirit dwell in thy heart, that do in the highest
saint on earth ; the same blood thou hast to sprinkle, and the
same water to wash thee ; these can, and will, when the JLord
pleases, testify as much for thy grace and sincerity as it doth for
theirs ; only, as witnesses that are in a court, stay till the judge
call them forth ; then, and not till then, do they give their testi-
mony ; so do these, and God may and doth use his liberty, when
he will do this. On the contrary, every wicked, impenitent sin-
ner carries a witness in his own bosom that he will condemn him ;
but this doth not always speak, and presently make report of the
sad news it hath to tell the sinner ; that is when God calls a court,
and keeps his private sessions in the sinner's soul, which is at his
pleasure to appoint the time ; only means must not be neglected,
of which I shall propose a few.

1 . Reach forth. Christian (for so I must call thee, whether
thou wilt own the name or no), to further degrees of grace. The
more the child grows up, the more it comes to its right com-
plexion, and so doth grace. There is so much slavish fear, sel-
fishness, with other imperfections, at present, like so much scurf
on the face of this new-born babe of grace, that they do hide its
true favour, which by degrees wear oft* as it grows up ; yea, the
spiritual reason of a Christian ripens, as the whole body of grace
grows, whereby he is more capable, by reflecting on his own ac-
ti'ons, to judge of the objections satan makes against his sincerity ;
so that, if you would not be always tossed to and fro with your
own fluctuating thoughts, whether sincere or not, be not always
children in grace, but grow up to higher stature, and thou wilt
grow above many of thy fears ; for, by the same light that thou
findest the growth of thy grace, thou mayest see the truth of it
also. Though it be hard in the crepusculum^ or first break of
day, to know whether it be day-light or night-light that shines,
yet when you see the light evidently grow and unfold itself, you
by that know it to be day. Paint doth not grow on the face fairer
than it was, nor do the arms of a child in a picture get strength
by standing there months and years. Does thy love, hope, hu-
mility, godly sorrow, grow more and more, poor soul, and yet
dost thou question what it is, whether true grace or not ? This
is as marvellous a thing, that thou shouldst not know what thy grace
is, and whence, as it was that the Jews should not know who
Christ was, when he made a man born blind to see so clearly,
John ix. '

2. Readily embrace any call that God sends thee by his provi-
dence for giving a proof and experiment of thy sincerity. There
are some few advantages that God gives, which if embraced and
improved, a man may come to know more of his own heart, and
the grace of God therein, than in all his life besides. Now these

advantages

Gtrt about with Truth, 449

advantages do lie wrapt up in those seasons, wherein God more
eminently calls us forth to deny ourselves for his sake. Be but
ready to entertain, and faithful to obey that heavenly call, and
thou wilt know much of thy heart. Partly, because grace in such
acts comos forth with such glory, that, as the sun whe'n it shines in
a clear day, it exposeth itself more visibly to the eye of the crea-
ture ; as also, because God chooseth such seasons as these for to
give his testimony to the truth of his children's grace in, when
they are most eminently exercising of it in this way. When does
the master speak kindly to his servant, and commend him, but
when he takes him most diligent in it ? Then he saith, JVelldone^
good and faithful servant. Maybe, sometimes or other, God is
calling thee to such an act of self-denial, wherein (if thou wilt
answer God's call) thou must trample upon some dear enjoyment
or other, as credit, estate, may be a sweet child, a dear wife,
yea, may be thou canst not do the work God calls thee to, but
with hazard to them all, these and more too. Well, friend, be
not sick to think of his great strength, or disquieted at the sight
of his providence, that now stands at thy door ; didst thou know
what errand it comes about, thou wouldst invite it iir, and make it
as welcome as Abraham did thfe three angels whom he feasted in
his tent so freely. I'll tell thee what God sends it for ; and that
is, to bring thee to a sight of thy sincerity, and acquaint thee
with that grace of God in thee, whose face thou hast so long de-
sired to see. This providence brings thee a chariot (to allude to
Joseph's waggons sent for old Jacob) wherein thou mayest be
carried to see that grace alive, whose funeral thou hast so long
kept in thy mournful soul, and does not thy spirit revive at the
thought of any means whereby thou mayest obtain this ? Abraham,
he was called to offer up his son, and went about it in earnest ;
such a piece of self-denial God could not pass without some mark
of honour; and what is it he gives him, but his testimony to his
uprighthess ? Gen. xxii. 12. La^ not tki/ ha?id upon the lad, for
now I know thou fear est me, seeing thon hast not withheld thy
son, thy only son, from me* Why ? God knew this before ;
yes, but he speaks it that Abraham may hear, and take it from
God's mouth that he was sincere. May be thou art called to deny
thy awn education and principles sucked in by it ; thy own com-
pany ; cross the judgment of those thou highly esteemest ; yea,
thy own wisdom and reason, to entertain a truth, or to take up a
practice merely upon the account of the word ; which if thou
canst do, and that without affectation of singularity, or an humour
of pride blowing thee that way, 'tis an act of deep self-denial,
and goes most cross to the most ingenious natures, who are afraid
of drawing eyes after them, by leaving their company to walk in
a path alone, yea, very loth to oppose their judgment to others,

^ more

450 Having your Loins

more for number aud parts than their own ; in a word, who love
peace so dearly, that they can be willing to pay any thirtg but a
sin to purchase it ; in these it must needs be great seU-denial,
and therefore such as have the greater ground to expect God's
evidencing their sincerity to thera.^ He did it to ISathaniel, who
had all these bars to keep him from coming to Christ, and be-
lieving on him ; yet he did both, and Christ welcomes him with
a high and loud testimony to his uprightness i Behold an hraeU
tie indeed, in whom there is no guile, John i. 47. May be
again, the thing God would have thee deny thyself in, is thy
wrath and revenge, which to give thee a iair occasion to da
with the greater demonstration of thy sincerity, he puts thine
enemy into thy power, and lays him bound, as it were, umler thy
hand ; yea, so orders it in his providence, that thou mayest have
thy will on him with little noise ; or if it be known, yet the no-
torious wrongs he hath done thee, and some circumstances in the
providence that hath brought him into thy hand, concur to give
thee an advantage of putting so handsome a colour upon the busi-
ness, as shall apologize for thee in the thoughts of those that hear
of it, making them especially, who look not narrowly into the
matter, rather observe the justice of God on thine enemy's judg-
ment befallen him, than thy injustice and sin, who wert the in-
strument to execute it. Now, when the way lies smooth and
fair for thee to walk in, and thy own corruption calls thee forth,
yea, useth God's name in the matter, to make thee more confi-
dent, saying to thee, as they to David, 1 Sam. xxiv. Behold, the
day is come, wherein God hath delivered the enemy into thy
hand, that thou mayest do to him as seemeth good in thine eyes,
Now if thou canst withstand the temptation, and instead of aveng-
ing thyself upon the person, thy enemy, revenge thyself on thy
revenge (the greater enemy of the two) by paying good into thy
adversary's bosom for the evil he hath done thee ; and when thou
hast done this, canst escape another enemy in thy return, 1 mean
pride, so as to come out of the field an humble conqueror, and
consecrate the memorial of this victory, not to thy own, but
praise of God's name (as Goliah's sword, which was not kept by
toavid at his own home, to shew what he had done, but in the
tabernacle, behind the ephod, as a memorial of what God had
done by it in David's. hand, 1 Sam. xxi. 9.) ; thou hast done that
which speaks thee sincere, yea, high gratitude in this grace, and
God will sooner or later let thee know so. David's fame sounds
not louder for his victories got in the open field, over his slain
enemies, than it doth for that he got in the cave, though an ob-
scure hole, over his own revenge, in sparing the life of Saul, in
which you have the case in hand every W2i.y fitted. By the re-
nown of his bloody battles, he got a great name^ like unto the

name

Ctrl about with Truth, 451

fmme of the great men that are in the earthy 2 Sam. vii. 9. : but
by this noble act of self-deuial, lie got a name, great, like unto
the name of those that are famed for their holiness in the scrip-
ture ; and rather than David shall not have the commendation of
this piece of self-denial, God will send it to him in the mouth of
his very enemy, who cannot nold (though by it he proclaims his
own shame and wickedness), but he must justify him as a holy
righteous man, 1 Sam. xxiv. 17. jind he (that is, Saul) said uri"
to Davidj Thou art more righteous than I, for thou hast reward^
ed me goody whereas I have rewarded thee evil.

3. Continue thou to wait upon God in all the ways of his or-
dinances, every one in their season ; whenever thou comest to
get the comfortable sight of thy sincerity, it is the spirit of God
that must befriend thee in it, or else, like Hagar, thou mayest sit
by the well, and not j&nd it ; thou mayest round thy field agaia
and again, but not find the treasure hid in it. It is the spirit of
God by which tve know the things that are freely given us of
Gody 1 Cor. ii. 12. Now the Spirit sits in the ordinances, as a
minister of state in his office, whither we must resort, if we will
have the truth of our graces, that are our evidences for heaven,
sealed to our consciences. Thither go therefore, yea, there
wait ; for thou knowest not, as the wise man saith of sowing
seed, Eccles. xi. 6. whether thy waiting on this or that, now or
then, shall prosper and be successful to thee for this end. It is
enough to confirm, yea, quiet and comfort thee in thy attendance,
that thou art at the right door, and though thou knockest long,
and hearest no news of his coming, yet thou canst not stay so
long, like Eglon's servants, Judg. iii. 25. that thou needest be
ashamed. They indeed waited on a dead man, and might have
stood long enough before he had heard them ; but thou on a liv-
ing God, that hears every knock thou givest at heavert-gate with
thy prayers and tears ; yea, a loving God, that all this while he
acts the part of a stranger (like Joseph to his brethren), yet is
so big with mercy, that he will at last fall on thy neck, and ease
his heart, by owning of thee, and his grace in thee. Lift up
thy head, then, poor drooping soul, and go with expectation of
the thing ; but remember thou settest not God the time : The sun
riseth at its own hour, whatever time we see it. And when God
shall meet thee in an ordinance, as sometimes, no doubt. Chris-
tian, thou findest a heavenly light irradiating, and influence
quickening thy soul while hearing the word, or may be on thy
knees wrestling with God, this is a sweet advantage and season
thou shouldst improve for the satisfying thy soul ; as when the sua
breaks out, then we run to the dial to know how the day goes ;
or when, as we are sitting in the dark, one brings a candle into
the room, then we bestir ourselves to look for the thing we miss,

F f and

452 * Having your Loins

and soon find what we in vain groped for in the dark ; so raayest
thou, poor soul, as many of thy dear brethren and sisters
before thee have done, know more of thy spiritual state in
^ few moments at such a time,^ than in many a day when God
withdraws ; carefully therefore watch for such seasons, and im-
prove them J but if God will hide thy treasure from thy sight,
comfort thyself with tbis» God knows thy uprightness, though
wrapped up from thine own eye ; say, as David, Psal. cxlii. 2.
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me^ then thou knewest
my path. And God will do with thee, not iDy the false accusa-
tions thou bringest in against thyself,, as it is to be feared some
Jiave suffered at men's hands, but by the testimony which his all-
seeing eye can give to, thy grace.

CHAP. XVI.

Wherein the second Reason of the Metaphor is opened ; why
Sincerity is set out hy the Soldier^s Belt^ viz. from the esta»
hlishing and strengthening Nature of this Gracey parOcuJarly^
of a preserving Strength it hath ;: witk some speoial Seasons
wherein the Hypocrite falls off,

fTAVING dispatched the first reason why sincerity is com-
•*--*^ pared to the soldier's girdle or belt, and discoursed of this-
grace under that notion ; we proceed to the second ground or rea-
son of the metaphor, taken from the other use of the soldier's
girdle, which is to strengthen his loins, and fasten his armour^
over which it goes, close to him ; whereby he is more able to
march, and strong to fight. Girding, in scripture phrase, imports-
strength, Psal. xviii. 3D. Thou hast girded me with strength-
unto the battle^ Job xii. 21. He weakeneih the strength of the
mighty ; in the Hebrew it is, he looseth their girdle ; to which
use of the girdle, sincerity doth bear a fit analogy. It is a grace
that establishes and strengthens the Christian in his whole course ;
as on the contrary, hypocrisy weakens and unsettles the heart ;
a double minded man is unstable in all his ways* As it is in bo-
dies, so in souls. Earthly bodies, because mixt, are corruptible ;
whereas the heavenly bodies, being simple and unmixt, are not
subject to corruption : So much a soul hath of heaven's purity and
corruptibleness, as it hath of sincerity. Grace be with all them
that Ifwe our JLord Jesus Christ in sincerity^ with incorruption,
Eph. vi. t\. The strength of every grace lies in the sincerity of
it 5 so that without any more ado, the point which offers itself to

our

Oirt dhout with Ttntth. 453

dut 6onsider*tioii!i, fi^tti this second notion of the girdle, is^thisi
Note^ That sincferity doth not only cover all our other infirmiij
ti6s, but is excellent, yea, necessary to establish the soul in, an<>
strengthen it fdr its whole Christian warKare. The integrity of
the upright shall guide them^ but the perverseness of transgressors
9hdll destroy thtm. Pro v. xi. 3. The hypfocrite falls shamefully,
a'nd conies tVy nafught with* all his shifts atnd stiraiagems to save'
himself; whereas sincerity cairries that soul sale, that dares foli^
Idw its conduct, above ail dangers, though in the midst of themv
Bitt to open the p6int j there is a threefold strength sincerity
brings with it, which th* false hypocritical hieart WaMff. 1 . Al
preserving strength'. 2. A recovering strength. 3; A-oomfortU
iD^ strength.

First, Sincerity hath a preserving strength to keep the soul!
from the^ defilements of sin ; when temptaition com'es on ftiriduslyy
slnd chargeth the soul home, a false heart ifr put to the run, it cani'
not possi*bly stand ; we are told of Israel's hypodris)^, Psal. Ixxviii,
8. they \Vere! a g^iiersition that set nf)t their heart aright^ and
what tbllows ? ivh'Osie spirit icas n^i stedfast with God ; stones
that are not set right on the- foundation, cannot stand' strong or
long: yoii mafy sete more of this bittier fruit growing^ on the hypotf
crite's branches in the same Psalm, v. 5^, 5f. Thetf turned
back^ and dealt linfaitkfullg } tht^ were turned aside like a de^
cettful boii); whe^ the bow is unbent, the rift it hath' made may
bs undiscernedy but go to use it by drawing the arrow to the
head, and it flieb in pieces ; thus doth a false hesirt when put to
the trial. As the apd in the fable, drest like a man, when nuts
are thrown before her, cannot the» dissemble her nature any lon-
ger, but shews herself an a|>e indeed ; a false heart bewrays itself
before 'tis aware, when a fair occasion is presented for its lust ;
whereas sinderity keeps that soul pure in the face of tempta*
tibn, Prov. x. 8^, He that tealketh uprightly^ walketh surely ;
(hat is, he treads strong on the ground, like one whose feet are
sound ; though stones lie in his vv*ay, he goes over them safely;
hut he that perverteth his ttay shall he known, like one that
hath some ccirn or other ail about his feet, though in green smboth
way he may make shift to go^ yet when he meets with hobbling
Stony Way, he presently comes down, and faulters. Now that this
preserving strength, which sincerity girds the soul with, mayf
better appear, it will be requisite to instance in some of those sea-
sons wherein sincerity keeps the soul from the power of tempta-
tion ; as on the contrary, when hypocrisy cowardly and tameljh
yields the soul up into its hands.

1. A false heart usually starts aside, and yields' to' sin, when
it can hide itself in a crowd, and have store of company, under
which it may shroud itself. The hypocrite sets hi swatch^ not

Ff2 by

454? Having your Loins

by the sun (the word I mean), but by the town-clock ; what mosi
do, that he'll be easily persuaded to do ; the voice of the multi-
tude is with him the voice of God : therefore you seldom have
him swim against the tide of corrupt times ; light things are car-
ried by the stream, and light spirits by the multitude. But the
sincere Christian is massy and weighty ; he'll sooner sink to the
bottom, and yield to the fury of a multitude by suffering from
them, than float after their example in sinning with them. The
hypocrite hath no inward principle to act him, and therefore like
the dead fish, must drive with the current ; but sincerity, being a
principle of divine life, directs the soul to its way, and improves
it to walk in it, without the help of company to lean on, yea,
against any opposition it meets. Joshua spake what was in his
heart, when ten or twelve that were sent with him, perceiving
on which side the wind lay, accommodated themselves to the hu-
mour of the people. Numb. xiv. 7. The false prophet's pleasing
words, with which they clawed Ahab's proud humour, could by
BO means be brought to fit good Micaiah's mouth, though he
should make himself very ridiculous by choosing to stand alone,
rather than fall in with so goodly a company, four hundred prO"
phetSj who were all agreed of their verdict, 1 Kings xx.

Secondly, A false heart yields, when sin comes with a bribe in
its, hand ; none but Christ, and such as know the truth as it is
in Jesus, can scorn the devil's offering ; All these will I give unto
thee. The hypocrite, let him be got pinnacle-high in his pro-
fession, yet will make haste down to his prey, if it lies fair be-
fore him ; one that carries not his reward in his bosom, that counts
it not portion enough to have God and enjoy him, may be bought
and sold by any huckster, to betray the soul, God, and all. —
The hypocrite when he seems most devout, waits but for a better
market, and then he'll play the merchant with his profes-
sion ; there is no more difference betwixt a hypocrite and an
apostate, than betwixt a green apple and a ripe one ; come a
while hence, and you will see him fall rotten ripe from his
profession. Judas a close hypocrite, how soon an open trai-
tor ! And as fruit ripens sooner or later, as the heat of the year
proves, so doth hypocrisy, as the temptation is strong or weak ;
some hypocrites go longer before they are discovered, than others ;
because they meet not with such powerful temptations to draw
out their corruptions. It is observed, that the fruits of the earth
ripen more in a week, when the sun is in conjunction with the
dog-star, than in a month before ; when the hypocrite hath a
door opened by which he may enter into possession of that worldly
prize he hath been projecting to obtain, now his lust within, and
the occasion without, are in conjunction, and his day hastens
wherein he will fall. The hook is baited, and he cannot but nib-
ble

Girt about with Truth, 455"

ble at it. Now sincerity preserves the soul in this hour of temp-
tation. David prays, Psal. xxvi. 9. that God would not gather
his soul with sinners J wJiose right hand is full of bribes ; such
as, for advantage, would be bribed to sin, to which wicked gang
he opposeth himself, ver. 1 i. But as for me, I will walk in my
integrity : where he tells us, what kept him from being corrupted
and enticed, as they were from God, it was his integrity ; a soul
walking in its integrity, will take bribes neither from men, nor
sin itself; and therefore he saith, ver. 12. His foot stood in an
even place ; or, as some read it. My foot standeth in righteousness •
Thirdly, The hypocrite yields to the temptation, when he
may sin without being controuled by man, which falls out in a
double case. First, when he may embrace his lust in a secret
corner, where the eye of man is not privy to it. Secondly, when
the greatness of his place and power lifts him above the stroke of
justice from man's hand : in both these he discovers his baseness;
but sincerity preserves the soul in both.

1. See how the hypocrite behaves himself, when he thinks he
is safe from man's sight. Ananias and Saphira's care was to blind
man's eye, by laying some of their estates at the apostles' feet,
and having made sure of this (as they thought), by drawing this
curtain of their seeming zeal between it and them, they pocket up
the rest without trembling at, or thinking of God's revenging eye
looking on them all the while ; and boldly, when they have done
this, present themselves to Peter, as if they Were as good saints
as any in the company. The hypocrite stands more to the saving
of his credit in this world, than the saving of his soul in the other ;
and therefore when he can ensure that, he'll not stick to venture
the putting of the other to hazard ; which shews he is either a
flat atheist, and doth not believe there is another world to save
or damn his soul in ; or on purpose stands aloof from the thoughts
of it, knowing it is such a melancholy subject, and inconsistent
with the way he is in, that he dares not suffer his own conscience
to tell him what it thinks of it ; and so it comes to pass, that it
hath no power to awe and sway him, because it cannot be heard
to speak for itself. Now sincerity preserves the soul in this case ;
it was not enough that Joseph's master was abroad, so long as his
God was present. How can I do this great wickedness^ and sin
against God? Gen. xxxix. 8. Mark, not against his master, but
against God. Sincerity makes faithful to man, but for more than
man's sake : Joseph served his master with eye-service ; he had
God in his eye, when Potiphar had not him in his: Happy are
those masters that have any that will serve them with this eye-ser-
vice of sincerity.

2. /The hypocrite, if he cannot get out of man's sight, yet may
he but stand out of the reach of his arm and power; it is as well

Ff3 for

4j56 Having your Ijotns

for his turn, and doth often discover hira. How unworthily and
cruelly dealt Laban with Jacob, cheating him in his wife, op-
pressing him in his wages, by changing it ten times: Alas, he
knew Jacob was a poor shiftless creature, in a strange place, up- j
able to contest with him, a great man in his country. Som«
princes, who, before they have come to their power and great-
ness, have seemed humble and courteous, kind and merciful, just
and upright ; as soon as they have leaped into the saddle, got
the reins of government into their hand, and begun to know what
their power was, have even rid their subjects oflf their legs with
oppression and cruelty, without all mercy to their estates, liber- 1
ties, and lives j such instances the history of the world doth sadly
abound with : even Kero himself, that played the part of a devil
at last, began so, that in the Uoman hopes he was hugged for a
state-saint. Set but hypocrisy upon the stage of power and
greatness, and it will not be long before its mask falls, off. The
prophet meant this much when he made only this reply to Hazael's
seeming abhorrency of what he had foretold concerning hira, 2
Kings viii. 1 3. The Lord shewed me that thou shalt he king over
Sijn'a ; i^s if he had said, Hazael^ thou never yet didst sit in a
king's chair, and knowest not what a discovery that will make of
thy deceitful heart. Mark from whence Kehoboara's revolt from
God is dated, 2 Chron. xii. 1. It came to pass when Mehoboam
had established the kiugdom^ and had strengthened himself, he
forsook the law of the Lord, Policy bade him conceal his inten-
tions, till he had settled himself in his throne, lest he should have
hazarded his crown ; but that set on sure, and his party made
strong, now all breaks out ; like a false captain who victuals his
castle, and furnishes it with all kind of ammunition^ and then,
and not till then, declares himself a traitor, when he thinks he
is able to defend his treason. But here also sincerity preserves
the gracious soul : two famous instances we have for this, one in
Joseph, who had his unnatural brethren, that would once have
taken away his life, yea, who did that which might have proved
worse, for all that they knew (barbarously sell hira as a slave in-
to a strange land) ; these he had strangely brought into his hands,
while he was in all his honour and power in Egypt ; and noiy
when he might have paid them in their own coin, without any
fear or controul from man, behold this holy man is lift above all
thoughts of revenge ; he pays their cruelty in his own tears, not
in their blood ; he weeps over them for joy to see them, that once
had no joy till they had rid their hands of him ; yea, when their
own guilt made them afiaid of his presence, measuring him by
their own revengeful hearts, how soon doth he deliver them from
all fears of any evil intended by him against them ? Yea, he will
not allow them to darken the joy, which that day had with thera

brought

Git't about with Truth. 45r

brought to him, sd touch as by expressing their own grief before
iiim, for their own cruelty ; so perfect a conquest had he got of
all revenge^ Gen, xlv. 5. And what preserved him in his hoar
of great temptation ? He told them, Gen, xlii. 18. This do^ and
live i for I fear God ; as if he had said, Though you be here my
prisoners, at my will tind mercy, for all that you can do to resist^
yet I have that which binds my hands and hearts too, from doing
or thinking you evil, I fear Gad, This was his preservative, \\t
sincerely feared God. The other instance is Nehemiah, governot
of that colony of the Jews, which, under the favour of the Per^
sian princes, were again planting their native country. By his
place, he had an advantage of oppressing his brethren, if he durst
have been so wicked, and from those that had before him been
honoured with that office, he had examples of such as could not
only swallow the common allowance of the governor, without ris-
ing in their consciences (which shewed a digestion strong enough,
considering the peeled state of the Jews at that time)^ but could^
when themselves had sucked the milk, let their cruel servants
fiuck the blood of this poor people also, by illegal exactions ; so
that h£td Nehemiah, coming after such oppressors^ taken his aU
lowance, but eased them of the other burdens which they groaned
tinder, no doubt he might have passed for merciful in their
thoughts ; but he durst not go so far. A man may possibly be
an oppressor in exacting his own. Nehemiah kndW they were
not in case to pay, and therefore he durst not require it. But
as one who comes after a bad husbandman that had exhausted his
]3,nd, and sucked out the heart of it, casts it up fallow for a time
till it recovers its strength, so did Nehemiah spare this op|iTessed
people ; and what, I pray, was it that preserved him from doing
as the rest had done? See Nehem. v. 15. But I did so, because
ef the fear of the Lord, The man was honest, his heart touched
with a sincere fear of God, and this kept him right.

^%V% W»% V%^^»^»%>% V»%%»W»»^i%%

CHAP. XVII.

Of a Becovering Strength that Sincerity hath^ and! w/tence,

^ECONDLY, Sincerity hath a recovering strength with it;
^ when it doth not privilege from falling, yet it helps up agairi ;
whereas the hypocrite lies where he falls, aiid perishes where
he lies ; he is therefore said to fall into mischief Prov. %xiv, 16.
The sincere soul falls, as a traveller may do, by stumbling, at some

F f 4 stone

458 Having i/otir Zioins

stone in his path, but gets up, and goes on his way with more*
care and speed ; the other falls, as a man from the top of a mast,
that is ingulphed, past all recovering, in the devouring sea. He
falls as Haroan did before Mordecai ; when he begins, he stays
not, but falls till he can fall no lower. This we see in Saul,
whose heart was never right ; when once his naughty heart dis-
covered itself, he tumbled down the hill apace, and stopt not, but
from one sin went to a worse ; and in a few years you see how
far he was got from his first stage, where he first took his leave
of God. He that should have told Saul, when he betrayed his
distrust and unbelief, in not staying the full time for Samuel's
coming (which was the first wry step taken notice of in his
apostacy), that he, who now ivas so hot for the worship of God,
that he could not stay for the prophet's coming, would, ere long,
quite give it over, yea, fall from inquiring of the Lord, to ask
counsel of the devil, by seeking to a witch, and, from seeking
counsel of the 4evil, should, at the last and worst act of this bloody
tragedy, with his own hands throw himself desperately into the
devil's mouth by self-murder, surely would not have been believ-
ed. Saul would have stranged at it more than Hazael did at the
plain character Elisba gave of him to his face. And truly all the
account we can give of it, is, that his heart was naught at first,
which Samuel upon that occasion hinted to him, 1 Sam. xiii.
when he told him, the Lord sought him a man after his own
heart ; David he meant, who afterwards fell into a sin greater, as
to the matter of fact, than that for which Saul was rejected of
God, but yet having an habitual sincerity, as the root of the mat-
ter in A«>/i, happily recovered out of it ; for want of which, hypo-
critical Saul miscarried finally; so true is that proverb, that
frost and fraud have dirty ends* Now there is a double reason
for recovering strength <)f sincerity; one taken from the nature of
sincerity itself; the other from the promise by God settled on the
soul where sincerity is found.

First, From the nature of sincerity itself; sincerity is to the
soul, as the soul is to the body : it is a spark of divine life kindled
in the bosom of the creature by the Spirit of God. It is the
seed of God remaining in the saint, 1 John iii. 9. Now as the
seed cast into the womb of the earth, and quickened there by the
influence of heaven upon it, doth put forth its head fresh and
green in the spring, after many a cold nip it hath had from the
winter, so doth sincere grace after temptations and falls, when
God looks out upon it with the beams of his exciting grace ; but
the hypocrite, wanting this inward principle of life, doth not so ;
he is a Christian by art, not by a new nature, drest up like a pup-
pet, in the fashion and outward shape of a man, that moves by
the strings which the workman fastens to it, and not informed by

Girt about with Truth, 459

a soul of its own ; and therefore as such an image, when worn by
time, or broken by violence, can do nothing to renew itself, but
crumbles away by piece-meal, till it conies at last to nothing, so
doth the hypocrite waste in his profession, without a vital prin-
ciple to oppose his ruin that is coming upon him. There is great
difference between the wool on the sheep's back, which shorn,
will grow again, aud the wool of the sheep's skin on a wolf's back ;
clip that, aud you shall see no more grow in its room. The sin-
cere Christian is the sheep, the hypocrite is the wolf clad in the
sheep's skin ; the application of ims obvious.

Secondly, The sincere soul is under a promise, and promises
are restorative. Psalm xix. 7. 2'/ie law of the Lord is perfect^
converting the soulj (in Hebrew) restoring the soul. It fetcheth
back the soul to life, as a strong cordial one in a fainting fit,
which virtue is prober to the promissory part of the word, and
therefore so to be taken in this place. Now the sincere soul is
the only right heir of the promise?. Many sweet promises are
laid in for the assuring succour and auxiliary aid to bring them off
in all their dangers and temptations, Prov. xxviii. 18. Whoso
walketh upHghtly shall be saved. Now mark the opposition.
But he that is perverse shall fall at once ; that is, suddenly, ir-
recoverably. Job viii. 20. God will not cast away a perfect man,
neither will he help the evil doers ; he will not take them by
the hand, Heb. that is, to help them when they fall ; nay, the
hypocrite is not only destitute of a promise for his help, but lies
also under a curse from God. Great pains we find him take to
rear his house, and when he hath done, leans on it^ but it shall
not stand ; he holds it fast ^ but it shall not endure^ Job viii. 15.
^ little that the righteous hath^ is better than the riches of many
wickedy Psalm xxxvii. 16. But why ? See the reason, ver. 17,
18. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken^ but the Lord
upholdeth the righteous. The righteous man, in that Psalm, is
the upright ; by the wicked is meant the hypocrite. A little
true grace, mixed with much corruption in the sincere Christian,
is better than the hypocrite's riches, great faith, zeal, and devo-
tion, he brags so of. The former hath the blessing of the pro-
mise, to recover it when decaying ; these the curse of God
threatening to blast them, when in their greatest pomp and glory.
The hypocrite's doom is to grow worse and worse, 2 Tim. ii. \3,
Those very ordinances which are effectual, through the blessing
of the promise, to recover the sincere soul, being cursed to the
hypocrite, give him his bane and ruin. The word, which opens
the eyes of the one, puts out the eyes of the other ; as we find in
the hypocritical Jews, to whom the word was sent to make them
blind, Isa. vi. 9, 10. It melts and breaks the sincere soul, as in
Josiah, 2 Kings xxii. 19. but meeting with a naughty false heart,

it

460 Having your Loins

it hardens exceedingly ; as appeared in the same same Jews, Jer.
xlii. 20. before the sermon they speak fair, Whatever God saithj
they will do ; but when sermon is done, they are further off thaa
ever from complying with the command of God. The hypocrite
he hears for the worse, prays for the worse, fasts for the worse ;
every ordinance is a wide door, to let satan in more fully to pos-
sess him, as Judas found the sop.

%'%»^<^»^»^%^%%^^%^»^%^%l»%%%%V%

CHAP. XVIII.

Of a Supporting and Comforting property Sincerity hath^ shewn
in several Particular Instances*

Hj^^'HIRDLY, Sincerity hath a supporting, comforting virtue ;
^ it lifts the head above water, and makes the Christian float
a-top of the waves of all troubles, with a holy presence, and gal-
lantry of spirit, Psalm xi. 24. IJnio the upright there ariseth
light in darkness ; not oply light after darkness, when the night
is past, but in darkness also ; out of the eater comes meat, and
out of the strongs sweetness. Those afflictions which feed on,
yea, eat out the hypocrite's heart, the sincere soul can feed on
them, suck sweetness from them ; yea, hath such a digestion, that
he can turn them into high nourishment both to his grace and
comfort. A naughty heart is merry only while his carnal cheer
is before him, Hosea ii. 11. God tells Israel, he will take away
her feasts^ and all her mirth shall cease ; her joy is taken away
with the cloth ; sincerity makes the Christian sing, when he hath
nothing to his supper. David was in none of the best case when
in the cave, yet we never find him meirier; his heart makes
sweeter music than ever his harp did, Psalm Ivii. 7. My h-eart is
fixed, O God, my heart isfixed^ I will sing and give praise ; the
hypocrite's joy, like the strings of musical instruments, crack in
wet weather ; but sincerity keeps the soul in tune in all wea-
thers : They are unsound bodies that sympathize with the season,
chearly in fair, but ill and full of aches in foul ; so the unsound
heart, a few pinching providences set him going, kill him as a
sharp winter doth weak bodies ; whereas the sincere soul never
is more hale, never more comfortable ; afflictions do him but
this cwniesy, to call in his affections, which in the summer of
prosperity were possibly too much diffused and scattered among
creature-delights, and unite them more entirely and closely upon
Christ, into whose bosom it goes as directly when storms come,
as the bee to its hive j and he must needs be comfortable that

hath

Girt aheut with Truth- 461

hath fio soft a pillow to lay his head on as Christ's lap ; «iDcerity
keeps the soul's mouth 0|>en, to receive the sweet consolations
that drop from word and spirit ; indeed all the promises are di-
rected to such. But hypocrisy is like the quincy in the throat
of the sick man, he burns within, and can get nothing down to
queuch the fire which his sins have kindled in his soul, ilonm
science tells him, when sweet promises are offered, these are not
for me, 1 have dealt falsely with God and man ; it is the sincere
soui God invites, but I am a rotten-hearted hypocrite : And how
much short comes such a poor wretch of Dives's misery in hell, I
pray ? Dives burns, and bath not a drop to quench his tongue,
the hypocrite in affliction he burns too, and hath indeed not a
drop, but a river, a fountain full of water, yea, of blood presented
to him, but he cannot drink it down, he cannot make any use of
it for his good ; his teeth are set so close, no key can open them,
his hypocrisy stares him in the face, it lies like a mastiff at his
door, and will suffer no comfort to come near him ; and which is
worse, he that hath no bread, or he that hath and cannot eat it ?
none so witty and cunning as the hypocrite in prosperity to ward
off the reproofs, to shift from the counsels of the word ; and iu
affliction, when conscience awakes, none so skilful to dispute
against the comforts of the word. Now he is God's close pri»
soner, no comfort can come at him ; if God speak terror, who
can speak peace ? JLam. iii. 65. Give them sorrow of heart , thy
curse unto them ; sorrow of heart is the hypocrite's curse from
God in affliction, and what God lays on, sticks close. The word
for sorrow^ in the Hebrew, signifies a shield that fenceth, and
covers over, and doth, saith one upon this place, denote the disease
physicians call Cardiaca passio^ which so oppresseth the heart,
that it covers it sicut scuto, as with a shield or lid over it, and
keeps all relief from the heart ; such is the sonx)w of the hypo-
crite in affliction, when onpe his conscience awakes, and God fills
him with amazing thoughts of his own sins, and God's wrath pur-
suing him for them. But I shall desceixl to instance in a few
particular kinds of afflictions, and sliew what comfort attends sin-
cerity in them all.

SECT, I.— ^First, Sincerity supports and comforts the soul un-
der reproaches from men. These are no petty trials : they are
reckoned among the sainfs martyrdoms, Heb. xi. 36. called there
cruel mockings i yea, not unworthy to be recorded among the
sufferings of Christ ; the matchless patience and magnanimity of
his spirit, appeared not only in enduring the cross, but in despis-
ing the shame, which the foul tongues of his bloody enemies load-
ed him unmercifully with ; man's aspiring mind can least brook
shame; credit and applause is the great idol of men that stand at
the upper end of the world for parts or place ; give but this, and

what

462 Having your Loins

what will not men do or suffer ? One wiser than the rest, could
see this proud humour in Diogenes, that endured to stand naked,
embracing a heap of snow, while he had spectators about hira to
admire his patience, as they thought it, and therefore was asked.
Whether he uould do thus^ if he had none to see him f The
hypocrite is the greatest credit-monger in the world, 'tis all he
lives on almost, what the breath of men's praise sends him in ;
when that fails, his heart faints ; but when it turns to scorn and
reproaches, then he dies, and needs must, because he has no cre-
dit with God, while he is scorned by man ; whereas sincerity
bears up the soul against Ihe wind of man's vain breath, because
it hath conscience, and God himself, to be his compurgator, to
whom he dare appeal from man's bar. O how sweetly do a good
conscience, and the spirit of God witnessing with it, feast the
Christian at such a time ! and no matter for the hall of man's re-
proaches that rattle without, while the Christian is so merry with-
in doors. David is a pregnant instance for this. Psalm xli. 11.
-Bz^ this I know that thou favour est me^ because mine enemy doth
not triumph over me ; how David ! does not thy enemy triumph
over thee ? I pray see the condition he at present was in ; he had
fallen into a great sin, and the hand of God was in him, in a
disease, chastising him for it, as appears, ver. 4. his enemies
from this take advantage to speak him all to naught ; ver. 5.
Mine enemies speak evil of me ; no doubt, charging him for an
hypocrite ; when they come to visit him, it is but to gather some
matter of reproach, which they presently blab abroad, ver. 6.
yea, they are not ashamed to say, ver. 8. that an evil disease, or
as it is in the Hebrew, a thing of Belial (that is his sin) cleaveth
to him ; now God hath met with him, now he lieth, he shall rise
no more ; yea, his familiar friend, in whom he trusted, serves
him as ill as the worst of his enemies, ver. 9. was ever poor man
lower ? and yet he can say his enemy triumphs not over him ?
his meaning therefore we must take thus ; that notwithstanding
all these reproaches cast upon him, yet his spirit did not fail, this
was above them all ; God kept that up, and gave him such an in-
ward comfort, as wiped off their scorn as fast as they threw it
on ; their reproaches fell, as sometimes we see now, melting as fast
as they fell, none lay upon the spirit to load and trouble it. And
how came David by this holy magnanimity of spirit, these inward
comforts ? ver. 12. he tells us, As for me^ thou upholdest me in
my integrity^ and settest me before thy face for ever. As if he
had said, thou doest not by me, O Lord, as mine enemies do ;
they pick out my worst, and revile me for it ; if there be but one
sore place, one sinful part of my life, like flies, they light there ;
but thou overlookest my sinful slips and failings, pardoning them,
and takest notice of my uprightness, which; amidst all my infir-

' raities.

Girt about uith Truth* 46^

Jmities, thou upholdest, and so settest me before thy face, commu-
nicating thy love and favour to me, notwithstanding the sins thajt
are found mingled with my course of obedience ; this kept up the
holy man's spirit, and makes him end the Psahn joyfully, ver. 13.
JSlessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlast^
mg. We live, Christians, in reproaching times -, he that is so
over dainty of his name, that he cannot bear to see some dirt,
and that good store too, cast upou his back by reviling tongues,
must seek a path to travel in by himself to heaven ; but, for thy
comfort. Christian, sincerity, though it cannot privilege thee from
travellers' fare, and keep thee from being dashed with calumnies,
yet it will do thee this kind ofHce, that the dirt which lights on
thy coat shall not soak into thy soul to damp thy joy, and chill
thy inward comfort. Reproaches without may be comfortably
endured, yea triumphantly worn as a crown, if they meet not with
a reproaching conscience within. Yea, sincerity will do more
than this comes to, it will not only comfort thee under the perse--
cutionofthe tongue, but hand also; not only quench the fire,
which from thence is spit on thy face, by tongues set on fire by
hell ; but it will comfort thee in the very mouth of fire itself, if
God shall suffer thee by persecutors to be cast into it ; sincerity
makes thee indeed fearful to sin ; O, thou darest not touch one
of these coals ; but it will make thee bold to burn, and even hug
joyfully the flames of martyrdom when called to them. So little
afraid was that sincere servant of Christ, an Italian martyr, Mr.
Fox records, among many other undaunted champions of the truth,
that when the magistrate of the place where he was to be burned,
and the ofEcers of the Bishop that condemned him, were in a hot
contest, wrangling which of them should pay for the wood that
should make the fire for his burning ; he presently sent to desire
them. They would not fall out upon that occasion ^ for he would
take off the burden from them both^ and be at the cost himself
Blessed soul ! he made not so much ado of spending his blood and
vsacrificing his life, as they about a few pence wickedly to procure
the same.

SECT. II. — Secondly, Sincerity girds the soul with comfort-
ing strength, when conflicting with affliction from the hand of
God. Many are the sorts of affliction with which God cxerciseth
his sincere servants ; to name a few :

First, When the Lord toucheth his outw^ard man, by sickness ;
or his inward man, by spiritual conflicts; sincerity is a comfort-
able companion in both. The hypocrite, above all, fears falling
into God's hands, and well he may, for he is able to do him most
hurt J therefore no sooner God takes hold of his collar, either of
these ways, but his joy gives up the ghost ; he, like some mur-
derer, whose doom is writ plain in the law, gives himself up for a

dead

464 Having t/(>uf jLoms

dead man, wbeu once he is cla!plt in prison, 'fhis ifiade Job
such a wonderling to his wife, because he held up his holj course^
when battered so sadly by the afflicting hand of God, with ref*
newed afflictions; Do»f thou yet hold thy integrity 9 What,
nothing but blows from God*s hand, and yet continue to bless
him ? this was strange to her, but not to him, who could call her
foolish woman for her pains ; but not chttrge God foolishly, fot
all he smarted so tinder his hand : Sincerity enables the Christiaii
to do two things in this case, which the hypocrite cannot. Td
speak good of God, and to expect good from God ; and the soul
cannot be uncomfortable, though head and heart ache together,
which is able to do these.

First, Sincerity enables the Christian to think and speak well
of €k)d. A false-hearted hypocrite, his countenance falls, and
his heart rises, j^ea, swells with venom against God, though hd
dare not always let it drive out of his mouth, yet he has bloody
thoughts against him in his heart. Hast thou found me, O my
enemy ? saitli the wretch ; he loves not God, and therefore a good
tfhought of God cannot dwell in his soul ; all that God has done
for him, though never so bountifully, 'tis forgotten, and imbitter-
ed with the overflowing of his gall at the present dealings of God
to him ; he frets and fumes ; you shall hear him sooner curse God,
fehan charge' himself; but the sincere soul nourisheth most sweet
and amiable apprehensions of God, which bind him to the peace^
that he dare not think or speak unbeseeming the glory or good-
ness of God, as we see in David, Psalm xxxix. 9. 1 was dit^nb,
and opened 7Wt my mouthy because thoit, Lord^ did^t it. This
holy man had a breach made both in his body and spirit at thi^
time ; he was sick and sad, yet he remembers from whose hand
the blow came ; Tlioti, Lord^ didst it: Thoii, whom 1 love
dearly, and so can take it kindly : thou, whom I have offended,
and so take it patiently: yea, thou, who mightest have cast m«
into a bed of flames, instead of my bed of sickness, and therefore
I accept thy correction thankfully. Thus he catches at the blow^
without retorting it back upon God, by any quarrelling discon^
tented language.

Secondly, Sincerity enables the sonl to expect good from God,
when his hand presseth hardest on body or soul. Psalm xxxviii.
Never was David in a worse case for body and sonl ; it would
break a flinty heart to read the sad moans that his throbbing
soul makes, in the- anguish of his flesh, and bitter agony of his
spirit ; one* would have thought they had been the pangs of a soul
going away in despair ; yet even in this great storm, we find him
casting out his sheet-anchor of hope, and that takes sure hold of
God for his mercy, ver. 15. In thee^ O Lovd^ do I hope^ thou
wilt hear ^ O Jjord my God. This expectation of good from

God,

Girt about with Truth. 465

God, corrects and qualifies the bitterness that is upon his palate,
frotn his present sorrow ; so Psalm xl. 17. 1 am poor and needy ^
2iet the l^rd thinketh upon me. My state at present is sad
enough, but my comfort is, I am not cast out of his mind; I know
his thoughts are at work to do me good. Holy Job proves that
he is not an hypocrite, as his friends uncharitably charged him,
by this confidence he had on God in the depth of all his afflic-
tions. Job xiii. 15, 16. Though he slat/ me^ yet wt'tl 1 trust m
him, I wilt maintain my ways before kim^ he also shall be my
salvation^ for an hypocrite shall md come before him. As if he
had said, if I were not sincere, I durst not appeal thus to God,
and comfortably believe, while God is killing of me, that he would
yet save me ; for an hypocrite shall not come before him ; tliat
is, he dare not thus trust himself in God's hands, and acquiesce
in his promise when his neck is on the block, and God's knife at
his throat ; no, if he could, he would never come in his sight ;
his conscience tells him, God knows him too well', to intend him
any good ; and therefore, when God begins to lay his hand on
him, (except his conscience be dedolent and seared, which is the
curse that God now and then brands the gross hypocrite with)
he presently hath the scent of hell-fire in his soul, in a fearful ex-

Eectation thereof; and looks on these present afflictions, though
ut a cloud of a hand-breadth, as those which will spread further
and further, till the shades of that everlasting night overtake, and
encompass him in hell's utter darkness.

SECT. HI. — Thirdly, Sincerity comforts the Christian, when
he wants success visibly to crown his endeavours in his place and
calling. A great affliction, no doubt, to a gracious soul ; as where
a minister of the gospel spends his strength, and swailes out his
life to a gain-saying people, that sit like stocks and stones under
his ministry, no more moved thun the seats they sit on, and the
pillars they lean to ; ignorant and prophane he found them, and
such he sees he is like to leave them, after twenty years, may be
almost twice told^ spent among them. This must needs be a
heart-aching trial to one, that God hath given a compassionate
heart to souls. It costs the mother no small pains to bring forth
a living child, but what are the bitter throws of one that travails
with a dead child ? Such is the travail of a poor minister with a
dead-hearted people, yet the portion of none of the meanest of
God's messengers ; indeed God sets his most eminent servants
about the hardest work.

Now sincerity lightens this affliction, and sends in that which
may cheer the soul under it. Paul saw he should not carry all
to heaven with him he preached unto ; to many the gospel was a
savour of death unto death. The sweet perfume of the gospel
proved a deadly scent to hasten and heighten their damnation ;

this

466 Having your JLoim

this could not be but sad to so tender a physician, to see his pa*-
tients die under his hands ; Yet he thanks God^ that makes him
triumph in Christy 2 Cor. ii. 14. But how can he do this ?
Poor souls drop to hell from under his pulpit, hearing hira, and he
triumph ? This is as stiaoge as to see the father follow his child's
mournful hearse, not weeping, but singing and dancing. Mark,
and the wonder will cease ; he doth not triumph that they perish,
but that he is not guilty of their blood ; not that they are damned,
but that he sincerely endeavoured their salvation, ver. 17* For
tve are not as many^ which corrupt the word of God^ but as of
sincerity^ but as of God, in the sight of God speak tve in Christ.
Had Paul dropped some wild gourd of error into his doctrine, or
mingled some ingredient of his own, with what Christ, the great
physician, had ordered, he would have had little list to triumph ;
but preaching pure gospel, and that purely, with a sincere heart,
he might triumph in Christ, that made him faithful, and shall
triumph over them, when he meets them again at the great day
at the bar of Christ, where to their face he shall witness against
them, and vote with Christ for their eternal destruction. Me-
thinks I hear all the faithful ministers of Christ giving an account
to him, on whose errand they were sent, in the language of Jere-
miah's prayer, Jer. xvii. 16. Zjord, we have not desired this
woeful day^ thou knowestf which now hath taken hold of these
wretched souls, and which we warned them of ; that which came
out of our lips, in our preaching to them, was right before thee ;
the life of their souls was dear and precious to us ; we could have
sacrificed our temporal lives to save the eternal life of their souls ;
but nothing we could say or do would stay them ; to hell they
would go, over all the prayers, tears, and intreaties, out of thy
word, which stood in their way. This will make the sincere mi-
nisters of Christ lift up their heads with joy, and such forlorn
wretches hang down their heads with shame to look Christ or
them in the face, though now they can brazen it out with an im-
pudent forehead. So for parents and masters ; sincerity in your
relations will comfort you, though you see not your seed come up,
which you have sown upon them in your godly examples, holy
instructions, and seasonable corrections. David was one that
walked in his house with a perfect hearty Psalm ci. 2. careful in
the nurture of his children, as appears in his pious counsel to So-
lomon, 2 Chron. xxviii. 9.. (though not without failings). But
many of his children were none of the best ; one incestuous, ano-
ther imbruing his hands in his brother's blood, a third catching at
his crown traitorously while his father was alive, which made
this holy man sadly foresee how the squares would go when he
was dead and gone ; yet, in this great disorder of his family, how
comfortable do we find him on his dying bed ? Though my house

be

Gilt about with Truth. 467

he not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant^ ordered in all things and sure^ 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. Sure-
ly he had done his duty siocerel}'', this was his evidence for his
interest in the covenant, and the covenant was all his desire and
salvation.

In a word, in times of public calamity, when the flood of God's
wrath comes rolling in upon a nation, like waves, irresistibly, at
the wide breach which the high crying sins of the times make,
and the few righteous that are found upon the place, labour to
stand in the gap, by their prayers begging the life of the nation ;
but God will not hear, (for so it sometimes falls out, though they
were like Noah, Job, and Daniel, greatly beloved of God, that
uo bail will be taken for a nation under arrest of God's judg-
ments) ; even then sincerity will be a sweet support, while we
sliare with others in the common calamity. Jeremiah, he bestir-
red hijn zealously for God, in testifying against the sins of the
times, and for the people faithfully and earnestly with God by
pra3^er; but he could neither convert them by his preaching, nor
divert the wrath of God by his praying. The Jews bid him hold
his peace, and prophesy no more against them : God stops his
mouth also, and bids him pray no more for them. Now in this
dismal state of things, what easeth his sorrowful heart, swoln
with grief for their sins, and judgments hastening upon them, like
an eagle to her prey ? Truly nothing can, but the remembrance
of his sincerity to God and man in those debauched times, Jer.
xviii. 20. Remember that 1 stood up before thee to speak good
for them^ and to turn away thy wrath from them. As if he had
said, O Lord, though I cannot prevail with this rebellious gene-
ration to repent of their sins, or with thy Majesty, to repent of
thy wrath gone out by an irreversible decree against them ; yet,
remember that I have been faithful in my place both to thee and
them ; whereas on the contrary, horror and amazement of spirit
is the portion, in such times of public calamity, of hypocrites, as
we see in Pashur, Jer. xx. who was a man that bare great sway
at court in Jeremiah's time, a bitter enemy to him, and the mes-
sage he brought from God to the Jews, labouring to sooth up the
king and princes with vain hopes of golden days coming (point-
blank against the word of the Lord, m the mouth of Jeremiah) ;
and what becomes of him when the storm falls on that unhappy
people ? Jeremiah tells him his doom, ver. 4. that God will make
him a Magor Massibib, a terror to himself; he should not only
share in the common calamity, but have a brand of God's especial
wrath set upon him above others.

SECT. IV Fourthly, Sincerity girds the Christian with

strength of comfort, when deprived of those opportunities which
sometimes God had intrusted him with for serving of him. An

G g affliction

468 Having i/our Loins

affliction (considered in itself) so grievous to a gracious soul, that
he knows none he fears more ; he could choose any, might he be
his own carver, before it : to be poor, disgraced, persecuted, any
thing, rather than be laid aside as a broken instrument, unser-
viceable to his God. Indeed he values his life, and all the com-
forts of it, by the opportunities they afford for the glorifying God.
David stops the mouth of his soul, which began to whisper some
discontented language, with this, that he should yet praise God,
Psal. xlii. Why art thou disquieted., O mij soul 9 I shall yet
praise him. All is well with David, and no cause of disquiet in
his soul, whatever besides goes cross to him, mav he but praise
God, and have opportunity of glorifying him. Joseph, when
God had so strangely raised him pinnacle-high, as I may say, to
honour in a strange land, he doth not bless himself in his prefer-
ment, carnally to think how great a man he is, but interprets the
whole series of providence, bringing him at last to that place,
wherein he stood compeer to a mighty king, to be no other than
giving him an opportunity of being eminenfly serviceable to God
in the preservation of his church, which was at that time contain-
ed in his father's family. God hath sent me hither (saith he)
before you^ to preserve you a posterity in the earthy and to save
your lives by a great deliverance. Gen. xlv* 7. This holy man
made his place give place to the work he was called to do in it foi
God, counting the honour of his honour to lie in the opportunit)
he had by it, of serving God and his church. It must therefor*
needs be a sad affliction to a sailit, when such opportunities arc
taken from him, that at any time h6 hath enjoyed. Bdt sincerit}
can make good work of this also, if God will haVe it so. 'Tii
Sad to the Christian to be laid aside, but it is comfortable to hin
to remember, that when he was not, he did not melt his talenti
flway in sloth, or waste them away in riot, but was faithful ii
improvimg them for God ; he counts it his affliction that Goc
employs him not as he hath done; but he is not sorry that Goi
can do his work without him ; yea, it is a sweet comfort to him
iis he lives at the grave's mouth, to think that the glory of Go(
shall not go down to the grave with him ; though he dies, ye
God lives, to take care of his own work ; and it is nbt the crack
ing of one string, or all, that can jnar the music of God's provi
dence, who can perform his pleasure without using any creatur
for his instrument. In a word, 'tis s^d to him to be taken froi
any work, wherein he might mote eminently glorify God ; yc
this again comforts him, that God counts that done, which th
Christian sincerely desires to do. David's good will in desirin
to build the temple, was as much in God's account, as if he ha
done it ; many shall be at the last day rewarded by Christ, fc
cloathing and feeding the poor, who, when on earth, had neith<

cloatl

Girt about with Truth. 469

cloaths nor bread to give, yet having had a heart to give, shall be
reckoned amongst the greatest benefactors to the poor. This ap-
pears from Matt. xxv. .34. where Christ is represented, speaking
not to some few saints that had great estates to bestow on chari.%
table uses, but to all his saints, poor as well as rich : Then ahall
the King say unto them on his right hand^ Come, ye blessed of
my Father^ inherit the kingdom prepared fai^ you^ 6;c, For 1
teas an hungered^ and ye gave me meat^ Sfc, Mark, not 5'e that
were rich, but 3/e, that is, all such as had b»:ead, you gave that
out ; you that had not bread or money tQ &yQy (when you could
not draw out your purse, you) yet drew out your souls to the
hungry ; hear this, O ye precious souls, that God hath made sin-
cere, and take comfort ; may be you stand low in the world, your
calling is mean, your estate next to nothing, which makes you
Jittle regarded by your neighbours that overtop 3'ou. Canst thou
say, though thou beest but a servant to some poor cobler, that
thou desirest to walk in the truth of thy heart, approving thyself
to God in thy whole course ? This bird will sing as sweet a note
in thy breast, as if thou wert the greatest monarch in the world.
That which brings comfort to the greatest saint in a time of dis-
tress, is the same which comforts the meanest in the family, and
that is the love and favour of God, interest in Christ, and the pre-
cious promises, which in him are Yea and Amen. Now sincerity
is th'e best evidence for our title to those. It will not be much
insisted on, whether much or little hath been done by us, as whe-
ther that much or little were in sincerity. Well done, good and
faithful servant', not well done, thou hast done great things, ruled
states and kingdoms, been a famous preacher in thy time, &c.
but thou hast been faithful ; and that thou mayest be, that stand-
est in the obscurest corner of the world. Good Hezekiah knew
this, and therefore on his sick bed he doth not tell God of his
great services he had done, though none had done more, but only
desires God to take notice of the truth and sincerity of his heart,
Remember that 1 have walked before thee in truths and with a
perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sights
Isaiah xxxviii. 3.

CHAP. XIX.

A Brief Applicatory Tmprovement of the Point, both in General
and Particular Branches also,

IT remains that the point be applied in its several branches,
which were three 5 sincerity hath a preserving strength, a re-

c g 2 stioring

470 Having your JLotns

storing strength, and a comforting strength. But for a quick
dispatch, we shall do it under two heads, clapping the two former
into one.

Use 1 . First, therefore, hath sincerity a strengthening virtue,
whereby it either preserves the soul from falling into sin, or helps
the Christian, fallen, up again.

First, This affords thee. Christian, a further discovery of thy
heart, whether sincere or not ; put it here upou the trial. Dost
thou find a power imparted to thee, whereby thou art enabled to
repel a temptation to sin, when thou hast no weapon left thee to
defend thee against it, but the command forbidding it, or some
arrow taken out of the quiver of the gospel, such as the love of
Christ to thee, thy love to him, and the like ? May be the temp-
tation is laid so cunningl}^, that thou mayest sin, and save thy cre-
dit too, having a back-door opened to let thee into it secretly. —
Thou shalt hazard nothing apparently of thy temporal concern-
ment ; yea, rather greatly advantage it, if thou wilt hearken to
the motion : Only God stands up to oppose it, his spirit tells, it
is against his glory, inconsistent with the duty thou owest, and
love thou professest to him. Now, speak what thou thiukest of
sinning, the case is thus stated ; canst thou yet stand it out va-
liantly, and tell satan, sin is no match for thee, till thou canst
have God's consent, and reconcile sinning against him, and loving
of him together ? If so, bless God that hath given thee a sincere
heart, and also for opening such a window as this in thy soul,
through which thou mayest see that grace to be there, which seen,
is the best evidence that God can give thee for thy interest in
him, and life everlasting with him. Wert thou an hypocrite,
thou couldst no more resist a sin so offered, than powder fire, or
chaff the wind.

Again, When thou art run down by the violence of temptation,
what is the behaviour of thy soul in this case ? Dost thou rally
thy routed forces, and again make head against thy enemy, so
much the more eagerly, because foiled so shamefully ? Or art
thou content to sit down quietly by the loss, and choose rather
to be a tame slave to thy lust, than to be at any further trouble
to continue the war ? The false heart indeed is soon cowed, and
quickly yields subjection to the conqueror ; but the sincere Chris-
tian gets heart, even when he loseth ground ; uprightness makes
the soul rebound higher in holy purposes against sin, by its very
falls into sin. Job xl. 5. Once have 1 spokeoi (he means foolish-
ly, sinfully), but 1 will not answer ; t/ew, tivice^ hut I will pro-
ceed no further. This made holy David beg of God to be
spared a little, that he might have time to recover his strength
before he went hence ; loth he was to go beaten out of the field,
might he but live to recover his losses, by repentance of, and some

victory

Gtrt about with Truth. 471

victory over, those sins that had weakened and worsted him, then
death should be welcome ; like that brave captain, who, uoiinded
injight, desired some to hold him up, that he might hut see the
enemy run before he died, and he should close his eyes in peace.
Deal therefore impartially with thy own soul, which way do thy
falls and failings work? If they wear off the edge from thy con-
science, that it is not soon keen and sharp in its reproofs for sin ;
if they bribe thy affections, that thou beginnest to comply with
those sins with which formerly thy contest was, and likest pretty
well their acquaintance, thy heart is not right ; but if still thy
heart meditates a revenge on thy sin that hath overpowered thee,
and it lies on thy spirit (like undigested meat on a sick stomach),
thou canst have no ease and content to thy troubled soul, till thou
hast cleared thyself of it, as to the reigning power of it ; truly
then thou disco verest a sincere heart.

Use 2. Secondly, This shews of what importance it is to la-
bour for sincerity ; without it we can neither stand against, nor
rise when we fall into temptation ; whatever thou beggest of God,
forget not a sincere heart. David saw need of more of this grace
than he had, Psalm li. 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God^
and renew in me a right spirit : and happy was it for him that
he had so much, as to make him desire more of it: What folly
is it to build a house with beams on fire ? The hypocrite's build-
ing must needs come to nought, there is a fire unquenched, the
power of hypocrisy unmortified, that it will consume all his good-
ly profession ; he carries into the field a heart that will deliver
him up into his enemies* hands. And he is sure to be overcome,
to whom his own side is not true.

Ily, Bless God, O sincere Christian, for this grace ;

is a blessing invaluable, crowns and diadems are not to be com-
pared with it. In this thou hast a heart after God^s oivn heart s
2L heart to his liking, yea, a heart to his own likeness. Nothing
makes thee liker God, in the simplicity and purity of his nature,
than sincerity. Truth is that God glories in; he is a God of
truth. When Haman was bid to say what should be done to the
man that the king delighted to honour, he, thinking that the king
meant no other than himself, would fly as high as his ambition
could carry him, and what doth he choose, but to be cloathed
with the king's own apparel royal ? When God gives thee sin-
cerity, he cloaths thy soul with that which he w^ears himself, who
cloaths himself with truth and righteousness, as a garment. By
this, thou art made a conqueror, greater than ever Alexander
was ; he overcame a world of men, but thou a world of lusts and
devils. Did one bless God at the sight of a toad, that God made
him a man, and not a toad ? how much more thankful oughtest
thou to be to God, who hath made thee, that wert a hypocrite by

nature.

4?^ Having your JLoins

nature, which Is far worse, an upright Christian ? It is a notable
saying of Lactantius, If a man would choose death, rather than
to have the face and shape of a beast^ though he might withal
keep the soul of a man, how much more miseralfle is it^ under the
shape of a man to carry the heart of a beeistf yet such a one
is the hypocrite, yea, worse ; he not only under the shape of a
man, but in the disguise of a saint, carries a beastiy filthy heart
within him.

Use 4. Fourthly, Liet this encourage thee who art sincere
against the fears of final apostacy. I'hough sincerity doth not
privilege thee from falling, yet thy covenant state which thou art
in (if sincere) secures thee from final apostacy. Because thy
stock of grace in hand is small, thou questionest th)' persevering;
can these weak legs, thiukest thou, bring me to my journey's
end ; the few pence in ray purse, little grace in my heart, bear
my charges all the way to heaven, through so many expences of
trials and temptations ? Truly no, if thou wert to receive no more
than thou hast at present ; the bread thou hast in the cupboard
will not maintain thee all thy life ; but, soul, thou hast a covenant
will help thee to more when that grows low ; hath not God taught
thee to pray for thy daily breads and dost thou not find that the
blessing of God in, thy calling diligently followed, supplies thee
from day to day ? And hast thou not the same bond to sue for
thy spiritual eternal bread ? hast thou not a Father in heaven,
that knows what thou needest for thy soul, as well as body ? hast
thou not a dear brother, yea, husband, that is gone to heaven,
where plenty of all grace is to be had, and that on purpose on his
children's errand, that he might keep their souls graces and com-
forts alive in this necessitous world ? All power is in his hands,
he raa}^ go to the heap, and send what he please for your succour,
and can you starve while he hath fulness of grace by him that
hath undertaken to provide for you, Luke x. 35. The two pence
which the Samaritan left were not enough to pay for cure and
board of the wounded man ; therefore he passed his word for ail
that he should need besides ; Christ doth not only give a little
grace in hand, but his bond for more, to the sincere soul, even as
much as will bring them to heaven, Psalm Ixxxiv. 11. Grace and
glory he will give^ and no good thing will he withhold from them
that walk uprightly.

Use 5. Fifthly, Take heed of resting on, or glorying in, thy
sincerity. 'Tis true, it will enable thee to resist temptations,
and recover out, when in temptation ; but who enables that ?
where grows the root that feeds thy grace ? not in thy own
ground, but in heaven ; it is God alone that holds thee and it in
life ; he that gave it, is at cost to keep it. The Lord is thy
strefigth, let htm be thy song s what can the axe, though sharp,

do

Gitf about with Truth. 4>73

do without the vvorkmau? Shall the axe say, I have cut down,
or the chizel, I have carved ? is it not the skill and art of the
workman rather? when able to resist temptation, say, The Lord
teas on my side^ or else I had fallen : set up an Ebenezer, and
write on it, Hitherto the Lord hath helped me.

Though God proniiseth, in the Psalm even now cited, to give
grace and glory to the upright ; yet he will uot give the glory of
his grace to uprightness, '.i Sam. xxii. 24. we have David assert-
ing his uprightness, and how he was preserved b}-^ it, 1 uas also
itprig/it before him^ and have kept me from mine iniquitij^ ver.
25. he declares the fruit of his uprightness, how God bare testi-
mony to it by rewarding him for it, in vindicating him before,
and giving him victory over his eneinies. Therefore the Lord
hath recompensed me according to my righteousness, according
to my cleanness in his eye^sight* Now lest he should set up
himself, or applaud his own uprightness, to the prejudice of God's
grace, he sweetly corrects and bounds these passages, ver. 3,'^.
God is my strength and poiver, and he maketh my tvay perfect.
As if the holj^ man had said, I pray mistake |ne not, I do not
ascribe the victory over my enemies within me or without, to
myself and ray uprightness ; no, God did all, he is my strength
and power, yea, it is he that makes my way perfect ; if I be sin-
cere more than others in my way, 1 must thank him for it, for he
makes my way perfect. He found me at first as crooked a piece,
and walking in as crooked ways, as any other, but he made mc
and my way perfect and strait. Had God pleased, he could have
made Saul as perfect as David; had God left David, he would
have been as crooked and false-hearted as Saul.

The last branch of the point was, sincerity hath a comforting
strength in all sorts of affliction. The applicatory improvement
of which shall be only this.

Use. JLet it teach us not to fear afiiction but hypocrisy. Be-
lieve it, friends, affliction is a harmless thing to a sincere soul ;
it cannot be so great as to make it inconsistent with his joy and
comfort ; a gracious soul, in the most sharp affliction, can spare
his tears and pity to bestow them on the hypocrite, when in all
his pomp and glory ; he hath that in his bosom that gives him
more comfortable apprehensions of his own affliction than standers-
by have, or caii have of them ; which made once a holy man,
when the pangs of death were on him, to ask a servant of his,
weeping by his bed-side for him. What she meant by het fears^
saying. Never fear that my heavenly Father ivill do me any hurt.
Indeed affliction is not joyous to the flesh, which hath made some
of God's dear children a while to shrink, but after they have been
acqUriinted with the work, and the comforts which God bestows
on his poor prisoners through the grate, they have learned another

tuoe;

474 Having your Loins^ 6;c,

tune ; like the bird that at first putting into the cage flutters, and
shews her dislike of her restraint, but afterwards comes to sing
more sweetly, than when at liberty to fly where she pleased. —
Be not therefore so thoughtful about affliction, but careful against
hypocrisy ; if the bed of affliction proves hard and uneasy to thee,
it is thyself that brings with thee what makes it so. Approve
thyself to God, and trust him who hath promised to be his saints'
bed-maker in affliction, to make it soft and easy for thee. O
.what a cutting word will it be in a dying hour, when thou art
crying, Lord, Lord, have mercy on a poor creature, to hear the
Lord say, I know thee not ; *tis not the voice of a sincere soul,
but an hypocrite that howls on his bed of sorrow ? What, then,
wilt thou do, when fallen into the hands of God, with whom thou
hast juggled in thy profession, and never sincerely didst love?
If that speech was so confounding to the Patriarchs, I am Joseph
wham you sold^ that they could not endure his presence, knowing
their own guilt ; how intolerable will it be to hear from God's
own mouth such language in a time of distress ; I am God whom
you have mocked, abused, and sold away for the enjoyment of
your lusts, and do you now come to mc ? Have I any thing for
you, but a hell to torment you in, to all eternity ?

END OF VOL. I.

4 83 1

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